An article said that more children and pensioners acted as informal carers for family or friends with chronic illness than previously thought, and that many of these were not in good health themselves. Researchers analysed the 2001 census data, which for the first time asked the entire population about caring responsibilities. About 5.9 million people provided informal care for another person. Of these, 114,000 were children aged 5-15 and more than 1 million were people aged 65 and over.
Source: Tim Doran, Frances Drever and Margaret Whitehead, 'Health of young and elderly informal carers: analysis of UK census data', British Medical Journal, 13 December 2003
Links: Article | BMJ press release
Date: 2003-Dec
A survey found that 9 out of 10 mental health carers said their own health was adversely affected through their caring role.
Source: Under Pressure: The impact of caring on people supporting family members or friends with mental health problems, Rethink (formerly National Schizophrenia Fellowship) (020 7330 9100)
Links: Report (pdf) | Rethink press release | Community Care article
Date: 2003-Dec
A study found that fewer than 1 in 3 carers had had an assessment of their needs, and almost 6 in 10 had received no additional help as a result of an assessment. It said that the government should introduce legislation to place a duty on local authorities and the National Health Service to inform carers of their right to an assessment, bringing England and Wales into line with Scotland and Northern Ireland; substantially increase funding for social care services; and continue ringfenced funding for carers' breaks and services.
Source: Missed Opportunities: Impact of new rights for carers, Carers UK (020 7490 8818)
Links: Summary (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Jul
An article investigated care provided to parents and parents-in-law by mid-life adults with dependent children at home. General Household Survey data were used to estimate the prevalence of this two-way care. Having a higher education qualification was associated with later ages both of caring for parents and of having children at home. Increasingly late first childbearing, however, pointed towards a potentially greater caring squeeze for higher qualified women, with a little over 1 in 10 at age 45 projected to be caring for a parent while still having a child under 18 in the household.
Source: Emily Agree, Beverley Bissett and Michael Rendall, 'Simultaneous care for parents and care for children among mid-life British women and men', Population Trends 112, Summer 2003, Office for National Statistics, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Article (pdf) | ONS press release (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jun
A survey found that Learning Disability Partnership Boards in England were struggling to identify, meet and plan for the needs of older family carers of people with learning disabilities. (Older families were defined as those where a person with a learning disability lived with at least one family carer over the age of 65.)
Source: Planning for Tomorrow, Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities (020 7802 0304)
Links: Report (pdf) | FPLD press release
Date: 2003-Jun
A report said that tens of thousands of families caring for people with severe or profound learning disabilities at home were in crisis due to a lack of support from local authorities: 8 out of 10 carers had reached breaking point, after struggling to cope with the demands of caring 24 hours a day.
Source: Breaking Point: A report on caring without a break for children and adults with severe or profound learning disabilities, Mencap (0808 808 1111)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf) | Mencap press release
Date: 2003-Jun
An article considered the contribution of changes in mortality and fertility to the likelihood of having one or more surviving children at a given age and/or a surviving parent. The proportion of people aged 60 with a mother alive was projected to more than double between those born in 1911 and 1970, and to increase for at least the next 30 years. While there were increasing concerns about the availability of informal care for elderly people from children, the authors concluded that a higher proportion of elderly people were likely to have a surviving child than for any generation ever born in Britain.
Source: Michael Murphy and Emily Grundy, 'Mothers with living children and children with living mothers: the role of fertility and mortality in the period 1911 2050', Population Trends 112, Summer 2003, Office for National Statistics, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Article (pdf) | ONS press release (pdf) | LSTHM press release
Date: 2003-Jun
A report was published summarising results from the 2001 Census for England and Wales. More than 5 million people in England provided unpaid care for a relative or friend. More than 1 million people provided unpaid care of more than 50 hours per week. (This was the first Census to ask whether people acted as carers.)
Source: Census 2001: National Report for England & Wales, Office for National Statistics, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Link to report and tables | ONS press release (pdf)
Date: 2003-May
Analysis of the 2001 Census showed that there were 149,000 children under 18 who provided unpaid care within their family. Campaigners said this figure could still be significantly below the true figure. (In 1996 the Office for National Statistics estimated that there were between 19,000 and 51,000 young carers.)
Source: Census 2001: National Report for England & Wales, Office for National Statistics, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Press release 20.5.03, Children s Society (020 7841 4415)
Links: Link to Census report and tables | Press release
Date: 2003-May
Research challenged the view that children are damaged by growing up in families where a parent has a severe mental illness. It found that children feel that caring for their parents can improve family relationships.
Source: Jo Aldridge and Saul Becker, Children Caring for Parents with Mental Illness: Perspectives of young carers, parents and professionals, Policy Press, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: Summary | Rethink press release | Community Care article
Date: 2003-Mar
First detailed results from the 2001 Census showed that in England and Wales there were 5.2 million people providing unpaid care, one in ten of the population. 68 per cent of carers provided care for up to 19 hours a week, 11 per cent for 20-49 hours, and 21 per cent for 50 or more hours.
Source: Press release 13.2.03, Office for National Statistics (0845 601 3034)
Links: Census website | ONS press release (pdf)
Date: 2003-Feb
Almost nine out of ten community nurses have seen evidence of abuse of an older person, a survey found. In most cases the abuse was by a family member, most often the chief carer, and in 78 per cent of cases the abuse took place in the victim's home.
Source: Press release 12.2.03, Community and District Nursing Association (020 8280 5342)
Links: Survey findings | Summary | CDNA press release | Help the Aged press release
Date: 2003-Feb
The government issued guidance to local councils on the 2003-04 carer's grant. High performing councils would have no conditions attached to their grant payment, and would be able to carry over all unspent grant money into 2004-05. (The carer's grant was designed to stimulate diversity and flexibility of provision that enabled carers to have a break from caring.)
Source: Carer's Grant: 2003-04 Guidance, Department of Health (08701 555455)
Links: Guidance (pdf)
Date: 2003-Feb
A new book warned that there may not be enough carers in future to look after children and elderly people. It said that an increase in the number of women in employment, longer life spans and a birth rate below the population replacement level, have increased the need for care and also reduced the number of people available to give it.
Source: Julia Brannen and Peter Moss, Rethinking Children s Care, Open University Press (01280 823388)
Links: Press release
Date: 2003-Feb