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Millions of people in the UK are juggling paid employment with their caring responsibilities. The recent ONS Census 2021 in England and Wales found that there are just under 2.5 million carers in employment (excluding full-time students): 9% of the workforce. 59% of carers are women and 41% are men. Among carers in employment, 58% are women and 42% men.
Other research suggests that the number of carers in paid employment could be even higher.
Carers and employment - facts and figures
- Carers UK research in 2019 found that there could be around 4.87 million people juggling work and care in the UK: 1 in 7 of all workers [1]
- Research by the Centre for Care also found that every year between 2010-2020, more than 1.9 million people in employment became unpaid carers – over 5,000 every day[2].
- Between 2010-2020, people aged 46-65were the largest age group to become unpaid carers (41% of people who became unpaid carers were in this age group) [3]
- The peak age for caring can often coincide with the peak of an individual’s career. The Census 2021 found that in England and Wales, the highest percentage of unpaid carers was among people aged 55 – 59.
[1] https://www.carersuk.org/media/no2lwyxl/juggling-work-and-unpaid-care-report-final-web.pdf
[2] https://www.carersuk.org/media/bgolg5u2/cuk-carers-rights-day-research-report-2022-web.pdf
[3]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/socialcare/articles/unpaidcarebyagesexanddeprivationenglandandwales/census2021