Carers say that they want to continue working alongside their caring responsibilities for as long as possible [1] to protect their finances, while many say it gives them personal value and a break from their caring responsibilities. However, evidence shows that:   

• 1 in 7 workers in the UK are juggling work and care [2] but 600 carers a day have to give up paid work to provide unpaid care.[3]  

• More than 1.9 million people in paid employment become unpaid carers every year. That’s 37,000 people every week or 5,300 every day. [4]

• 400,000 people in employment are now providing over 50 hours of unpaid care a week. [5]

• Carers are less likely to be in work and more likely to face poverty than non-carers.[6]

• Carers retire with much lower private pension incomes than the UK average: around £6,750 per year, which is only 80 % of the average UK private pension (£8,500) and 49 % of the overall national average pension income.[7]

• Employers lose an estimated £8.3billion in productivity as a result of losing carers from the workplace and the cost to the economy of unpaid carers being unable to participate in paid work is £37 billion per year. [8]

• Young people with caring responsibilities have much higher rates of being not in education, employment or training (NEET) than non-carers. [9]

• Carers UK analysis of the NHS staff survey found that one third of NHS staff in England (32%) are providing unpaid care. Carers UK estimate this to be over half a million people.[10]