Sex of carers
- There is little geographical variation in the sex of carers (~60% female almost everywhere).
Age of carers
- There is local variation in the age of carers.
- Places where people are younger tend to have younger carers, and places where people are older tend to have older carers (see positive slope in all age groups).
- Places with older residents tend to have a higher proportion of carers (we know that unpaid care is more common among older age groups).
Hours cared
- There is geographical variation in how may hours per week people are caring for.
- We know from previous research that care inside the household, care later in life (70+) and care for a child with a disability can be particularly ‘time-consuming’.
Networked Data Lab data on unpaid carers
- Our Networked Data Lab partners were able to get data on carer assessments from five local authorities.
- According to the 2021 Census, each of our five local authority areas have carer populations that closely resemble the national average in terms of age and sex.
- There are clearer disparities in terms of hours worked, with some areas having a higher proportion of older carer caring for 20+ hours a week (compared to the national average).
