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Facts and Figures about carers – nationally from Carers UK and Census 2011 unless otherwise stated

Numbers

• 1 in 8 adults in the UK are carers – almost 6.5 million people
• 1.4 million provide more than 50 hours care a week
• By 2037 it is estimated that this number will have reached 9 million
• Everyday another 6,000 people take on a caring responsibility; equals over 2 million people each year
• 3 in 5 people will become a carer at some point in their lives It could be you (Carers UK, 2001)
• 1 in 5, 50-64 year-olds have a caring responsibility
• Women are more likely to be carers than men – 58% women to 42% men
• There are at least 178,000 young carers, but likely to be many more Hidden From View (The Children’s Society, 2013)

Money

• Carers save the economy £119 billion per year. On average each carer saves economy £18,473 per year.
• Carers benefit is just £59.75 per week, for people who provide a minimum of 35 hours of care a week; this is equivalent to £1.71 an hour, far short of the minimum wage
• 72% of carers are worse off as a result of their caring role (Carers in Crisis, Carers Scotland/Carers UK 2008)
• More than half of carers 54% are in debt as a result of their caring role (Carers in Crisis, as above)

Health and Social Exclusion

• 625,000 people suffer mental and physical ill health as a direct consequence of the stress and physical demands of caring
• Carers providing round the clock care are more than twice as likely to be in bad health than non-carers
• 75% of carers found difficulty in maintaining relationships and social networks due to people not understanding the impact that caring has (State of Caring.Carers UK, 2014)

Work (from Employers for Carers, Facts and Figures, 2009 unless otherwise stated)

• 3 million people combine work with caring responsibilities. This is roughly 1 in 8 workers in the UK
• Over 2 million carers work full time, 1 million work part- time
• 400,000 combine full time work with caring for 20 hours or more, of care per week We Care – Do you? (Carers UK, 2005).
• Over 2 million carers have given up work at some point, and 3 million have reduced their working hours to care for someone from Carers UK/Yougov (2013) Caring & Family Finances Inquiry Report, 2014
• 70% of carers were over £10,000 worse off a result of reduced earnings (reference as above)

Locally in Hertfordshire – Carer figures from the 2011 Census, Working carer figures from Carers, Employment and Services in Hertfordshire Report 9, University of Leeds & Carers UK, (Yeandle et al., 2006-7).

There are around 109,000 carers in Hertfordshire, just over 100,000 adult carers and at least 8000 young carers. The estimate for young carers figures is from Hidden From View (The Children’s Society, 2013)

• 20,668 adults provide 50 or more hours of care per week
• Hertfordshire carers save the economy £2.1 billion per year
• 51,918 carers in Hertfordshire combine employment with their caring role
• 22,903 men combine unpaid caring with full time employment (73% of male carers)
• 13,672 women combine unpaid caring with full time employment (35% of female carers)
• 2,211 men combine unpaid caring and part time employment (7% of male carers)
• 13,132 women combine unpaid caring and part time employment (33% of female carers)