Our report on caring and employment finds that caring responsibilities for relatives or friends who are older, disabled or seriously ill are having a significant impact on people’s capacity to work and earn a full-time wage.  

The difficulty of juggling work and care is leaving unpaid carers in employment exhausted, stressed, and struggling to take a break. Many have had to reduce their working hours or leave work entirely, often leading to a significant reduction in household income. 

• 40% of all carers surveyed told us they had given up work to provide unpaid care, while 22% said they had reduced their working hours. 
• Over half (57%) of people who had stopped working or reduced their hours at work to care said they had done this because of the stress of juggling work and care. 
• Nearly half (49%) of carers who had given up work or reduced their working hours had seen their income reduce by over £1,000 per month. 
• 53% of carers who are employees said that flexible working helps them balance work and care 

Employers can make a valuable difference when it comes to retaining carers in employment, by offering carer-friendly policies and recognising the challenges faced by staff with caring responsibilities.  

Carers UK is sharing recommendations for employers to recognise the range of skills that carers gain through their caring role; consider becoming earlier adopters of unpaid carer’s leave; and adopt Carer’s UK Carer Confident benchmark, run by Employers for Carers, to move towards becoming a carer friendly employer.