Carer support: time for a rethink?

A recent report by Carers UK identified that up to 600 people a day need to leave their jobs to care for older, ill and disabled relatives (Carers UK, 2019). Estimates suggest there are 5 million people balancing the demands of work and caring for older people, a 12% increase since 2013. Add to this the numbers of carers beyond working age and young carers and the total estimates are of around 7 million carers in the UK. Three in five people in the UK will be carers at some point in their lives, and by 2030, the numbers of carers will increase by 3.4 million (60%) (Carers UK, 2019). What's worse, these numbers may be under-estimated given the hidden nature of many caring activities, particularly around the growing problems in mental health and addiction, where carers may not seek help because of stigma and embarrassment.