Commenting on new figures from the Trussell Trust, which showed that one in four people (27%) providing unpaid care for sick or disabled loved ones in Northern Ireland are experiencing food insecurity – more than twice the rate of non-carers (12%) – ^[1] Craig Harrison, Public Affairs Manager for Carers NI, said:

These devastating levels of food insecurity among unpaid carers should be a loud wake-up call to political leaders and policymakers in Stormont. It is atrocious that, in 2023, a group of people who are saving the public purse billions of pounds in care costs don’t have the financial resources they need to put food on the table for their families. We have been warning for months that unpaid carers are being pummeled by sky-rocketing living costs and are now pleading, again, for their cries for help to finally be heeded. Relying on bit-part solutions from Westminster while the NI Assembly sits in silence is not sustainable when carers and other groups in Northern Ireland are going hungry.

Notes to editors

1. Trussell Trust (2023). Hunger in Northern Ireland. The report shows that 27% of people providing unpaid care in Northern Ireland are experiencing food insecurity, more than twice the rate among those who don’t provide unpaid care (12%).
2. There are over 220,000 people providing unpaid care to a sick or disabled family member or friend in Northern Ireland – roughly one in 8 people.
3. Unpaid carers save the Health and Social Care system in Northern Ireland an estimated £4.6bn each year in care costs.