A study of over 5,700 people by YouGov during October and November recently released it’s findings that unpaid carers have saved UK taxpayers £135bn during the coronavirus pandemic in unpaid carer.
To put this into perspective, these savings equate to a whopping £530m per day of the crisis throughout 2020.
Calls for more support
Understandably, these findings have prompted an outpouring of calls for the government to provide more support for unpaid carers providing care and support for others, a campaign lead by Carers UK.
Helen Walker, chief executive of Carers UK, said: “With every day that this pandemic goes on, unpaid carers are being pushed to the limit providing ever more care for loved ones with fast-diminishing support.
“They say they feel completely overlooked, overwhelmed, and can’t go on like this.”
It’s thought that there are currently over 6.5 million unpaid carers in the UK today, with an estimated 6,000 people becoming carers for elderly, disabled, or ill family members and friends every single day.
Previous research from Carers UK this year found that around 81% of unpaid carers (4 out of 5) are now providing more care than before lockdown, while 64% say they have not been able to take any breaks at all in the last six months due to a lack of support during lockdown measures.
Carers UK’s campaign, Caring Behind Closed Doors, calls for raising the level of Carer’s Allowance for unpaid carers, the prioritization of the return of essential services, more support for carers to look after their own well-being and mental health, and more sufficient funding for social care over the winter.
Find out more about the Caring Behind Closed Doors campaign.