
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
At the Centre for Care, we are about to embark on fieldwork to examine some of the ongoing and recent examples of care worker organising in England.
Read More about Care worker organising – where is it at, and where does it go from here?This European Carers Day we explore the importance of a work-life-care balance for carers, and the support and policies needed to make that a reality.
Read More about Work, life care? Supporting carers to find the right balance for themContinuing ‘The Transitions that Matter’ series: Robert Walker writes about transitioning into older age, and the financial risks involved.
Read More about The financial risks of transitioning into older ageA newly published PhD-thesis on welfare technology for older people and their informal carers in a Swedish context by Maria Nilsson, doctoral student at the Swedish Family Care Competence Centre.
Read More about Welfare technology for older people and their informal carers in a Swedish context
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
We are delighted to welcome Richard Humphries to Care Matters to discuss his recent book, ‘Ending the Social Care Crisis: A New Road to Reform’. Hosted by Dr Duncan Fisher.
Read More about Podcast- Ending the Social Care Crisis: In conversation with Richard HumphriesRead about our new visual representation of a care ecosystem, drawn by artist Laura Brodrick.
Read More about A flourishing social care ecosystemNew research by Centre for Care colleagues Jingwen Zhang, Maria Petrillo & Matt Bennett, in collaboration with Carers NI, estimates the value of unpaid care in Northern Ireland.
Read More about New report- Unpaid carers saving Northern Ireland’s health service £5.8 billion per yearDr Emily Burn and Professor Catherine Needham have worked with the LGIU to produce a new report entitled ‘What role for local government in Scotland’s National Care Service?’, launching on 1st December with an online event.
Read More about Report launch event: What role for local government in Scotland’s National Care Service?