Carers UK's annual State of Caring survey is now live and will close on 11 August.
Last year over 11,600 unpaid carers took the time to complete the survey. Responses are used in the national charities policy and campaigning work.
Responses from last year have been used to make several recommendations to prevent carer poverty through the charities newly launched Carer Poverty Coalition, a group of 130 national and local organisations which recently published a manifesto on supporting carers facing financial hardship. Your responses also informed their recently published manifesto calling on political parties to commit to a new social contract for unpaid carers, as well as a new report we published with the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Carers which called for a National Carers Strategy.
"Thanks to your input in previous surveys, we have also been able to successfully campaign for new legislation allowing carers to take unpaid carers leave and to set down a good evidence base for the implementation of the Carer’s Leave Act 2023. We also used your responses to campaign on overpayments of Carer’s Allowance, which has led to some commitments from Government to improve processes – but there is more to do. We also used your responses to campaign on carers’ rights, as more progress needs to be made to ensure carers get the support they are entitled to. In addition, the results from last year were discussed on national TV shows, as well as local BBC radio, and in many national and local newspapers, raising the profile of unpaid caring across the UK. Carers’ voices and experiences were at the heart of this coverage."
Responses from last year have been used to make several recommendations to prevent carer poverty through the charities newly launched Carer Poverty Coalition, a group of 130 national and local organisations which recently published a manifesto on supporting carers facing financial hardship. Your responses also informed their recently published manifesto calling on political parties to commit to a new social contract for unpaid carers, as well as a new report we published with the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Carers which called for a National Carers Strategy.
"Thanks to your input in previous surveys, we have also been able to successfully campaign for new legislation allowing carers to take unpaid carers leave and to set down a good evidence base for the implementation of the Carer’s Leave Act 2023. We also used your responses to campaign on overpayments of Carer’s Allowance, which has led to some commitments from Government to improve processes – but there is more to do. We also used your responses to campaign on carers’ rights, as more progress needs to be made to ensure carers get the support they are entitled to. In addition, the results from last year were discussed on national TV shows, as well as local BBC radio, and in many national and local newspapers, raising the profile of unpaid caring across the UK. Carers’ voices and experiences were at the heart of this coverage."
This year's survey covers issues and areas that carers have highlighted as being important. It may take around 20-30 minutes to complete. If you don't get to the end, your responses will be saved and sent to Carers UK, even if you don’t finish. However, please continue with the questions as far as possible. This allows the charity to advocate far better for carers.
It is so important that local carers take the time to complete the survey so that the results reflect what matters to carers in our area. We, along with many other organisations use the reports Carers UK produce to shape our continually developing understanding of what matters to carers and how we collectively respond.
Please note that this survey is only for unpaid carers (or former unpaid carers) who are looking after a disabled, older or seriously ill relative or friend. The survey closes on 11 August and we will publish the results later this year.
