On European Carers Day (Sunday 6th October 2024) , Carers UK, in collaboration with Eurocarers, proudly celebrates the vital role of unpaid carers who provide essential care to loved ones, often at great personal sacrifice. This year’s theme, Unpaid Carers are Partners in Care, highlights the indispensable role that unpaid carers play in Europe’s long-term care systems and calls for urgent policy reforms to support them.
Across Europe, millions of family members and close friends provide unpaid care to older people, those living with disabilities and individuals with chronic health conditions. In the UK alone, according to the Census, this is an estimated 5.7 million people. Despite their critical contribution, unpaid carers in all countries in Europe often face significant challenges — financial instability, lack of recognition and limited access to services — that affect their health and well-being.
Today, Carers UK is urging policymakers, healthcare systems and communities to take positive steps to ensure that unpaid carers are treated as equal partners in care.
Call to Action
On this European Carers Day, carers’ organisations across European are calling for policymakers and stakeholders to:
- Acknowledge unpaid carers as partners in care: Recognise the crucial role they play in long-term care, not as a secondary or informal resource but as an integral part of the care team. Their contributions should be as valued as those provided by professional care workers.
- Invest in better support systems for unpaid carers: Governments must ensure that carers receive adequate financial, emotional and social support to prevent burnout and improve their quality of life. This includes offering breaks, mental health support and access to education and training for carers.
- Advocate for stronger carers' rights: Carers should be empowered with clear social rights that protect them from the negative impacts of long-term caregiving, such as financial insecurity, physical and mental health deterioration and social exclusion.
- Elevate carers' voices in policy-making: Carers should be included in the decision-making process at all levels — whether in designing individual care plans or shaping national care policies. Their lived experiences offer valuable insights that can lead to more person-centred care systems.
As part of the campaign, Carers UK is joining other European members of Eurocarers to set out key policy areas that are essential for improving the lives of informal carers and ensuring they are treated as equal partners in the care process:
- Financial support: Advocating for adequate compensation that reflects the level of their responsibilities and mitigates the economic penalties associated with caring, ensuring a Fair Deal for Carers.
- Recognition as part of the care team: Promoting the recognition of unpaid carers as equal partners alongside professionals, in alignment with an integrated, person-centred care approach.
- Participation and choice: Ensuring unpaid carers have a voice in the design of care policies and individual care arrangements, reflecting their critical role in the caregiving process and their expertise.
- Enforceable rights: Protecting carers from the adverse effects of long-term care on their health and social inclusion by advocating for enforceable social rights, ensuring they benefit from the same protection as formal care workers in terms of universal employment rights.
- Skills validation and employment pathways: Supporting carers who wish to transition into the formal workforce by validating their skills and ensuring pathways into the employment market
Emily Holzhausen CBE, Director of Policy and Public Affairs and a Board member of Eurocarers said, “The challenges faced by unpaid carers in the UK are shared across countries in Europe – their stories are strikingly familiar and aligned. It’s clear that our UK Government needs to play its part in protecting unpaid carers’ health and wellbeing, ability to work, social connections and financial security.
“With a rapidly ageing population in the UK and across all European countries, it’s vital that we get support for unpaid carers and treat them as partners in care.
“In England and Wales, the value of unpaid carers’ support is worth a staggering £162 billion – the same spending as on our National Health Service.”
A Stronger Future for Carers
European Carers Day is a reminder that unpaid carers deserve more than just gratitude—they deserve tangible support, strong legal rights and full recognition as partners in care. This is not just a social issue; it’s an economic and moral imperative. By investing in better support systems for carers, we not only improve their lives but also enhance the quality of care for millions of people across Europe.