Background: Informal care plays a crucial role in the social care system in England and is increasingly recognised as a cornerstone of future sustainability of the long-term care (LTC) system. This paper explores the variation in informal care provision over time, and in particular, whether the considerable reduction in publicly-funded formal LTC after 2008 had an impact on the provision of informal care. Methods: We used small area data from the 2001 and 2011 English censuses to measure the prevalence and intensity (i.e.
