Care matters. It is a complex and important issue that affects everyone at some point in their life.
The Centre for Care provides accessible evidence on care to inform changes that could improve the lives of millions of people.
The Centre for Care links experts on care in 5 universities, 3 major charities and the UK’s Office for National Statistics.
Funded as an ESRC Research Centre to address the need for evidence on care that can make a difference, we have built a large research team to co-produce excellent research on care topics that really matter. We work closely with partner organisations in the care sector and people with direct experience of care.
Commentary
Our latest commentary pieces
Emily Burn and Catherine Needham reflect on their previous research with the Local Government Information Unit on Scotland’s proposed National Care Service and outline four areas of key learning for the Government in Westminster.
Read More about Developing a National Care Service: Learning from Scotland’s experience
A powerful insight into the difficult transitions this author has faced, navigating life as a Young Adult carer.
Read More about Navigating Life as a Young Adult carer
Read this new study by the Centre for Care team researching inequalities in care.
Read More about Estimating the Cost of Unpaid Care
Centre Director Kate Hamblin provides a round up of our Summer School activities.
Read More about Summer School 2024
Explore key topics
We explore how arrangements for care – formal systems, support by families and friends, local and national arrangements affecting daily life – fit together and affect each other, focusing on how care system outcomes could be improved.
Read moreabout Care as a Complex Adaptive Ecosystem
We work to improve the quality, availability and provision of data on care, collaborating with ONS and other partners to produce up-to-date, world-class data infrastructure on care for all to use.
Read moreabout Care Data Infrastructure
We investigate how digital technologies, care and caring relationships are evolving and interact, and what this means for people with support needs, those who assist them and the wider care system.
Read moreabout Digital Care: roles, risks, realities and rewardsOur Research Groups
Here we explore experiences of care at different life stages, when families are geographically dispersed and as people experience different parts of the care system.
Read moreabout Care Trajectories and Constraints
We study change, innovation and challenges in paid care work: recruitment, organisation, conditions, digitalisation and their effects on job and service quality.
Read moreabout Care Workforce Change
We use statistics and link data to study how socio-economic, health and other inequalities shape experiences of care for groups and individuals in different places and over time.
Read moreabout Inequalities in Care
Latest Updates
News and latest content from the Centre for Care
Announcing plans for our 2025 Summer School, applications now open!
Read More about Summer School 2025
Read this new report looking at the future of social care research.
Read More about ESRC Social Care Future Directions Workshop Report
The Centre for Care, Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute (SPERI) and the Centre for International Research on Care, Labour and Equalities (CIRCLE) held a book seminar in Sheffield in December 2024. Dr Anna Fielder presented her new book Going into Labour: Childbirth in Capitalism Dr Anna Fielder is a sociologist in the Midwifery Department, Auckland University of Technology, […]
Read More about Book seminar – Going into Labour: Childbirth in Capitalism
Colleagues across CIRCLE and the Centre for Care were deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Professor Janet Fast in September 2024, shortly after her retirement from a distinguished career at the University of Alberta in Canada, where for decades Janet co-directed the influential RAPP (Research on Aging Policies and Practice) programme. Janet was generous in sharing with us her extensive […]
Read More about Obituary: Professor Janet Fast
Who we’re working with
The Centre for Care links experts on care in 5 universities, 3 major charities and the UK’s Office for National Statistics.
