A leading carers’ organisation is marking Carers Rights Day by publishing data showing hundreds of thousands of people in the Scotland are finding themselves taking on the role of unpaid carer each year.

The charity Carers Scotland says statistical analysis by the Centre for Care  at the University of Sheffield shows, from 2010 to 2020, on average nearly 1000 people in Scotland become an unpaid carer every day and roughly 6,500 each week.

At the same time as more than 340,000 people in Scotland become unpaid carers each year, a similar but smaller number leave their caring role altogether.

The data also shows that 190,000 of new carers are women and 150,000 are men and, out of the 340,000 starting caring roles, more than 150,000 are in paid employment. 

Richard Meade, Director of Carers Scotland, says many who take on caring roles take a long time to realise their lives have changed or that they could get support:

“With our ageing population and people with disabilities living longer – coupled with an ever-greater focus on care being provided at home - it is no surprise that hundreds of thousands of people are taking on an unpaid caring role every year.

“Most carers would call themselves a loving partner, parent or child or a good friend, and do not immediately identify their caring role - meaning many miss out on practical support as a result.

“Our research shows that 97% of carers took a year or more to identify themselves as a carer – with nearly half (46%) going on to care a decade without identifying themself – often missing out on essential practical and financial support.

“All the evidence shows that having an unpaid caring role means you are more likely to experience poorer health and poverty. It is therefore imperative that both the national care service and the carers strategy deliver, and carers are fast-tracked to the support they need to carry out their caring role by being routinely identified within the NHS, social care settings and by employers.

“Given the cost-of-living crisis, recruitment challenges in the labour market and the pressures on health and social care, there are benefits for every sector in making this happen as well as huge benefits for families themselves.”

Carers Scotland is now calling for a change in the way that carers are identified across society to ensure each can get the practical or financial support they need, and for  the NHS routinely to systematically identify unpaid carers and signpost them to support to see an improvement in their health and wellbeing.

The charity also says it is also critical that employers raise awareness of caring, introduce measures which identify carers in their workforce and provide flexibility, to support more carers to continue working.

Sheffield University Professor Matt Bennett, Deputy Director Centre for Care, says there needs to be a recognition that people are joining, and leaving, roles as unpaid carers all the time:  

“This research shows how dynamic unpaid care is in the UK. While headline figures often focus on how many unpaid carers we have in society at any one time, we lose sight of the people who become unpaid carers or stop their unpaid caring roles every day.

“We describe the transitions in unpaid care over the past decade and demonstrate that they are not experienced by people equally.

“The changing nature of unpaid care means we need flexible and dynamic policies and practices to identify and support unpaid carers and the diversity of their experiences.”

Carers Scotland is calling for organisations to take part in Carers Rights Day and Carers Week next June to help raise awareness of the role of carers and the support they need.

 

Read more: Unpaid carers “spiralling” in cost-of-living crisis; Carers Week: record caring under pressure; Unpaid carers being “pushed to the brink”

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