Rprt

This report presents findings of a questionnaire-based survey of the financial position of carers in the UK conducted by the Carers National Association (CNA), the starting point of which was that government carers strategies published recently for England and Scotland have omitted to address carers' financial problems. The survey suggested that a large proportion of carers providing substantial care are faced with financial hardship.

There are approximately six million people in the UK who provide care and support for someone, usually a relative or partner, who, because of age, health or disability, are unable to cope alone. Although this form of unpaid care work saves the taxpayer an estimated £34 billion a year in health and social services, the carers themselves are often left in poverty, excluded from any active social life and often without paid employment. This publication draws on recent research that looks at the way caring impacts on the lives of different types of carers.

Macmillan Cancer Support’s Worried Sick report presents a summary of the findings of a major quantitative survey conducted by Opinion Leader Research (OLR). The survey explores the impact of a cancer diagnosis on the lives of both people with cancer (who have received the diagnosis) and people affected by cancer (family members and friends who often help them cope with their cancer experience).

This unique bi-lingual book records the reminiscences of 13 carers from Sheffield's Yemeni community.The stories were collected by noted local writer Debjani Chetterjee and translated by Abdul Razak Saleh.

The Scottish Executive commissioned this literature review. The overall aim was to provide a comprehensive summary of existing knowledge of how young carers are identified and how their needs are assessed and met. Therefore the review largely concentrated on the interaction between young carers and their families on the one hand and service agencies on the other. Understanding the needs of young carers was an important context for the review, but was not the primary focus.

This study, funded by The True Colours Trust in association with The Princess Royal Trust for Carers, investigates the experiences, needs and service responses to the 290,000 young adult carers aged 16-24 in the UK today.

This research looks at the experiences and preferences of low-income Caribbean, Pakistani and Somali people in balancing work and care responsibilities. It examines the particular challenges faced by these ethnic minority groups, and the challenges for employers and policy. It found that:

This report presents results of projections of use and supply of long-term care for older persons in four countries representative of different long-term care systems: Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Poland. Using a standardised methodology, the projections show that between 2010 and 2060, the numbers of users of residential care, formal home care and informal care are projected to increase in all countries, but at different rates. The results also indicate that if current patterns of care use and supply prevail, supply of informal and formal care is likely to fall behind demand.

Demographic change is demanding new responses from our society, workplaces, public services and family life as our population and workforce age. As the number of working age people caring for older loved ones with health conditions such as dementia rises, the impact on people’s ability to work is becoming an increasingly critical issue for employers. Half the UK’s 6.5 million carers are juggling paid work alongside caring.