Survey of Unpaid Carers 2024

Overview

In January 2024 South Tyneside Council carried out a survey of adult unpaid carers.

The purpose of the survey was to:

get feedback from adult carers, particularly from those who don't receive formal support from adult social care services
give us a real understanding of their challenges, experiences and the things that matter most to them
keep us informed on the state of caring in South Tyneside
help us to develop the priority actions going into year three of the Carers Strategy and beyond

154 adults who provide unpaid care in South Tyneside completed the survey, although not everyone answered every question.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to provide us with their thoughts and comments.

The findings of the survey will help us to influence decision makers across our health and social care system and encourage them to do more to improve the lives of unpaid carers.

The following page contains a summary of the results. If you would like more details, please contact jacqui.kaid@southtyneside.gov.uk.

Summary of the results

Most carers who responded to the survey were white females between the ages of 35 and 64. The majority were caring for one person.
Nearly a third were caring for 90 hours or more per week and a third of these were caring for more than one person.
Most carers lived with the person they cared for and this was mostly their partner or their child.
Most respondents believe that their needs as a carer are not equally recognised, understood, and valued.
The key worries for carers in South Tyneside are:

Their own health and wellbeing
Being able to juggle paid work and care
Money and the cost of living

Carer's health and wellbeing

Most carers are worried about the impact of their caring role on their own health and wellbeing.
They are not putting their own physical and mental health first and they don't know what support is available in their area to help them manage this.
A high proportion of carers are having poor sleep and sadly over half are not satisfied with their life right now.
Carers are missing out on social activities and a very high proportion feel lonely.
Over half of carers also said they miss out on time for themselves or a break, going on holiday and doing hobbies. These are all things that can help carers health and wellbeing.
Carers said getting some support with paying for social or leisure activities would help with their social life and time for themselves.
A quarter of carers said their relationship had got worse with the person they care for, this tended to be more so if it was their partner / spouse.

Access to support and social care assessments

The majority of carers don't get support for themselves or the person they care for because they don't know about the support that is available and they can't ask for help because they are expected to do the caring.
When it comes to digital support over half of carers have a digital device and are confident using it.
The majority of carers who responded to the survey had not had a social care assessment in the last 12 months. Although the figures were quite small for those that have had an assessment, the majority said it was useful and lead to meaningful support.
The most common reasons carers had not had a social care assessment was because they didn't know what an assessment was or how it could help them and they didn't think an assessment for them or the person they care for would help or be beneficial.

Work and money

Over half of carers are also working full or part time. 15% of those working full time were also providing 90 hours or more of care per week.
Of those that had experience of balancing work with caring, the majority said work gives them a purpose outside their caring role.
Almost half of those balancing work with caring responsibilities feel anxious while at work and have given up opportunities at work.
The majority of working carers said having the ability to take time off either paid or unpaid would help them balance caring with paid work.
Unsurprising, given the rise in the cost of living, a significant proportion of all carers who responded to the survey are worried about their monthly living costs and ability to manage in the future.
Of these carers, caring was more likely to have a significant impact on their mental health.
In the last 12 months over half of carers who responded to the survey have been unable to keep their home warm and over half have cut down on the size of meals or skipped meals.
Carers are coping financially by cutting back much more on activities which improve wellbeing, such as hobbies and leisure, and time with family and friends.
A quarter are coping by cutting back on essentials like food and heating. A third are using bank overdraft / loan or credit cards to cope financially. These figures almost double if the carer is receiving carers allowance.

Recommendations

The findings from the survey have highlighted that there are some specific actions we need to take.

These are:

Recognise and support carers

Develop a bespoke communications campaign using personas so that carers can identify themselves and connect with information and support.
Raise the awareness of the health and wellbeing benefits of a statutory carers assessment.
Ensure practitioners can describe the benefits of a statutory carers assessment.
Promote and encourage practitioners in health and social care to take up the 'Think Carer' training offer through the A Better U training programme. Consider making this mandatory in social care.
Further work with partners, using the wider opportunities they offer, to provide targeted information and advice at key points when people come into contact with health care, social care and other local services.
Carry out awareness raising campaigns to reach diverse carers with the right information sooner, so that they know what is available in their area to support them.

Support young carers to achieve their full potential

Ensure young adult carers are supported with the right information and advice as they transition to adults.
The transition assessment will explore what matters to them. For example:
- improving their wellbeing
- building careers and social networks
- training
- support to build on their life skills, including money management or preparing for a job interview

Increase access to stable and supportive employment

Ensure carers are aware of their rights whilst in work or returning to work and that they have important benefits and financial information around earnings and claiming Carers Allowance.
Better connecting into existing employment support services for those wanting to return to work.
Continuous advice and support for employers to help keep unpaid carers in work through regular updates and messaging. For example through the South Tyneside Pledge and Invest South Tyneside.
Ensure that any cost of living or poverty reduction initiatives include unpaid carers.
Provide targeted financial support and information to carers.
Support carers to access additional financial support, for example for food, energy, water etc.
Support carers to access a credit union.
Develop a communications campaign to connect carers to the financial information and support.

Keep carers connected

Promote the benefits of technology and how it can support carers.
Ensure that information and support is available for people in various formats and through a range of channels.

Improve the health and wellbeing of carers

Ensure that any policies and initiatives focussed on population health or reducing health inequalities in South Tyneside recognise that unpaid caring can have a negative impact on health and wellbeing.
Support carers to improve their physical and mental wellbeing by being able to take part in leisure activities which are affordable and inclusive so that carers and the person they care for can attend together if they wish.
Ensure the Loneliness and Social Isolation Strategy has a specific focus on carers, who due to the multiple compounding factors that impact on them are more likely to become socially isolated and lonely.