Increase In Adult Carers Feeling Stressed Or Depressed
Research from NHS Digital, Personal Social Services Survey of Adult Carers in England 2018-19 has revealed that more informal carers are stressed or depressed than before.
60.6% of carers reported feeling stressed in 2018-19 (up from 58.7% in 2016-17)2, according to a survey of 50,800 adult carers in England according to the survey.
The percentage of carers who reported feeling depressed increased from 43.4% in 2016-173 to 45.1% in 2018-19.
Of all the carers surveyed4, 77.8% reported ‘feeling tired’ (an increase from 76.0% in
2016-17) and 66.0% said that they experienced ‘disturbed sleep’ (an increase from 64.0% in 2016-17).
More than three quarters of people surveyed (76.0%) said that they spend over 20 hours per week looking after the cared-for person, with 38.7% spending over 100 hours per week on their caring duties.
The Personal Social Services Survey of Adult Carers in England 2018-195reports on the views of 50,800 carers6 who are caring for a person aged 18 or over.
The biennial survey of carers provides vital information about the impact of people’s caring responsibilities on their quality of life7.
The results of the survey showed that the percentage of carers who were not in paid work because of their caring responsibilities increased from 21.0% in 2016-17 to 22.6% in 2018-19.
10.6% of respondents reported that caring had caused them a lot of financial difficulties in the past 12 months, which is an increase from 2016-17, when the figure was 9.6%.
The report also provides information relating to the carer and their wider experiences of providing care.
- The majority of carers were female (67.8%)
- The largest age band of carers was 55-64 years, which accounted for 23.8% of the eligible population. The smallest group, 18-24 years, accounted for 1.6% of the eligible population
- The majority of carers surveyed (65.4%) have been carers for over five years. Almost a quarter (23.5%) have been caring for 20 years or more
- Most carers who responded to the survey were caring for a person with a physical disability (51.4%), with the next-largest group caring for someone with a long-standing illness (39.7%)8
- 6% of carers were extremely or very satisfied with the support or services they received, compared to 7.2% who were extremely or very dissatisfied
To read the full report:
Personal Social Services Survey of Adult Carers in England 2018-19
