Britain’s ‘unsung’ army – a million people in poorer working-age households now have full-time unpaid caring responsibilities

The combination of an ageing society and a rising prevalence ill-health and disability, all of which are concentrated among families across the poorest half of the country, has led to a growing ‘unsung’ army of one million people with full-time caring responsibilities – many of whom are struggling as a result – a major new book published by the Resolution Foundation will reveal this week.

The book Unsung Britain, which charts the changing social and economic circumstances of the 13 million working-age families across the poorest half of the country, finds that the society-wide trends of ageing, ill-health and disability are more pronounced among lower-income families.

Since the mid-1990s, the average age of someone in a lower-income family has increased by five years – from 35 to 40 – compared to a four-year rise among better-off families (from 38 to 42). Almost one-in-three working-age adults in lower-income families today have a disability, compared to fewer than one-in-five in better-off families.

While these trends are widely discussed, along with pensioners becoming a greater share of the UK population, the book warns that their knock-on effects on demand for unpaid care has gone completely unnoticed by politicians and policy makers – despite the strain it is placing on families.

This rising demand for care of adults is again most common among poorer households, and a ‘caring gap’ has emerged in recent decades. Last year, 1-in-8 people in lower-income families had at least five hours a week of unpaid caring responsibilities, compared to 1-in-13 people in better-off families.

The intensity of unpaid care has also increased. Today, in homes of modest means, one million people have care responsibilities of 35-plus hours a week – the equivalent of a full-time job – making it extremely challenging to secure paid work. Indeed, around one-in-three carers in poorer homes say they can’t work at all because of their duties.

Of those poorer carers who do work, two-in-five report being able to work less than they might like because of their commitments.

Overall, these challenges mean that relative to comparable families with neither a disabled member nor a carer, those with a carer (but not disabled person) are £1,700 worse off a year.

The Foundation says that Britain has made great progress in supporting working people with childcare responsibilities in recent decades, from flexible working rights to extended parental leave and higher statutory pay.

Now, as Britain confronts its demographic challenges, it should be equally bold in support those with caring responsibilities for adults too.

A good starting point would be to equalise the Caring Elements of Universal Credit with the health element – boosting it by £15.60 to £217 a month (at a cost of around £200 million per year).

Help for those who want to work should come via the extension of statutory carers’ leave from one week to four, and making the first two weeks payable by employers at the same rate as Statutory Sick Pay.

Finally, finding a sustainable funding solution for social care provision – a challenge that successive administrations have failed to tackle – will play a key role in helping to avoid putting even more pressure on carers in the future.

Mike Brewer, Deputy Chief Executive of the Resolution Foundation, said:

“Britain is getting older and sicker, while a greater share of its population have a disability. While these trends affect the whole of society, they are starkest in the poorest half of working-age families across the country.

“But while we talk a lot about the effects of ageing and ill-health, we barely discuss their implications on demand for unpaid care. That’s despite Britain having an ‘unsung army’ of one million people who do at least 35 hours of unpaid care work every week.

“It is time to provide better support for these carers and their families, just as we have done with working parents in recent decades. Carers’ deserve greater financial support in Universal Credit, more help to stay in work if they want to, and decent social care system to help relieve the pressure on families.”