New statistics show the economic value of contributions made by unpaid carers in the UK is now £184.3 billion a year.
Unpaid carers in the UK are now providing care worth a staggering £184.3 billion a year, evidenced by new research published by Carers UK and the Centre for Care today. This huge increase – up by £64.9 billion since 2011 – is because families are providing more care than ever before.
Despite the vital care they provide, many unpaid carers are finding it increasingly difficult to afford day-to-day living costs due to rising prices and additional bills associated with their caring role – making support to stay in work where possible vital.
Click here to read the report
These figures are now available in the new Valuing Carers 2021/22 report. This consolidates the findings from each of our three previous reports in our Valuing Carers series that focus on England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. The research used Census data and the UK Household Longitudinal Study (also known as ‘Understanding Society’) over time and place to estimate the cost of unpaid care.
Our research shows the growing economic value of unpaid care across the four nations of the UK, which has reached an astonishing £184.3 billion. To put this into perspective, the combined NHS budget across the four nations of the UK in 2021/2022 was £189 billion – so carers are providing the value of care equivalent to a second NHS. The value of unpaid care was also approximately four times higher than the expenditure on adult social services across the four nations of the UK.
The economic contribution made by unpaid carers has increased by 29.3% in the last decade and paints a stark picture of the savings they make to health care budgets. Without unpaid carers, our health and social care systems would collapse.
People are providing more hours of unpaid care than ever before, and the contributions made by unpaid carers have increased across all localities in the UK. We hope policy makers see the urgent need to act to support unpaid carers.
Professor Matt Bennett, Centre for Care
The report launches on Thursday 21 November 2024, which is Carers Rights Day – an annual day for raising awareness about carers and the rights they have, so they can access the support they are entitled to and the recognition they deserve.
Also released on this day in collaboration with Carers Scotland, Valuing Carers: 2022 Scotland, looks at the value of unpaid care in Scotland. Click here to learn more.
