The annual State of Caring survey, one of the largest research exercises to gather the thoughts and experience of Scotland's unpaid carers, has been launched.

Carers Scotland, alongside its counterpart organisations across the rest of the UK, says it hopes to match last year's 8,000 responses, which it says have been vital to help the organisation campaign on the issues identified as important to people looking after others, such as financial support and provision for short breaks.

Last year's responses showed the cost of living crisis was already putting ‘unsustainable financial pressure’ on people who were struggling to meet the escalating costs of looking after loved ones, with levels of stress and financial worry described as ‘unprecedented’.

Since last year's Cost of Caring survey, energy prices and overall inflation have risen dramatically.

Head of Policy and Public Affairs at Carers Scotland, Fiona Collie, says the more responses the organisation receives, the more it can focus on trying to persuade decision-makers in Edinburgh and London of the changes that matter most to unpaid carers:

“Unpaid carers in Scotland are spending hundreds of hours each month looking after sick or disabled family members, often with little-to-no support.

“Many are being pushed to exhaustion and burnout as a result.

“Carers Scotland’s annual State of Caring seeks to capture these experiences and give a voice to carers. It covers a wide range of themes, including carers’ finances, health, wellbeing and more – helping to build a picture of unpaid caring and highlighting the biggest challenges facing our carer population today.”

The survey, open to all unpaid carers or former unpaid carers who look after a disabled, older or seriously ill relative or friend can be completed online.

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