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Scottish Community Care Statistics 2002

CHAPTER 6 - CARERS

This chapter presents information on carers and people receiving care. This information is taken from the Scottish Household Survey and covers the period from January 2002 to February 2003.

During this time, the survey covered 15,073 households and data were collected covering 34,599 individuals within those households. The statistics given here were extracted from the Scottish Executive's SHS database during November 2002, so will not take account of any subsequent revisions to the data. In the tables presented here, the figures have been grossed up to reflect population levels. These figures are estimates based on the sample covered by the survey, care should therefore be taken when interpreting the data.

For more detailed information on the Scottish Household Survey data, please refer to the notes in annex A.

Table 6.1: People Requiring Regular Help and Care ¹ - Age and Sex Breakdown, 2002

¹ Figures are grossed up to reflect population levels and rounded to the nearest 100.
Source: Scottish Household Survey

In 2002, there were an estimated 284,800 people in Scotland who required regular help or care. This represents 5.6 per cent of the Scottish population. The majority (58 per cent) of people requiring care were women. Around half of the people requiring care were aged 65 or over.

Table 6.2: Level of Care Received ¹, 2002

¹ Figures are grossed up to reflect population levels and rounded to the nearest 100.
Source: Scottish Household Survey

Of those requiring regular help or care, 45 per cent received care from outwith the home, 38 per cent received care from within the home, and 13 per cent received a combination of care from within and outwith the home. Four per cent of people who identified themselves as requiring care did not receive any.

Table 6.3: Hours of Care Received per week ¹, 2002

¹ Figures are grossed up to reflect population levels and rounded to the nearest 100.
Source: Scottish Household Survey

Table 6.3 and Chart 6.1 detail the hours of care received per week, from carers within and outwith the home.

Where care is received from outside the home, the majority of people receive less than 20 hours per week (68 per cent). Only 8 per cent receive continuous care.

By contrast, where care is received from within the home, only 13 per cent of people receive less than 20 hours per week. A much greater proportion of people receive continuous care (65 per cent).

Chart 6.1 Hours of Care Received from Within or Outwith the Home per week, 2002

Table 6.4: Carers Providing Care to People Within Their Own Home - Age and Sex Breakdown ¹, 2002

¹ Figures are grossed up to reflect population levels and rounded to the nearest 100.
Source: Scottish Household Survey

There were an estimated 165,100 people who provided care to someone within their own home in 2002 (approximately 3 per cent of the population). Over half (57 per cent) were women.

The most common age group for providing care within the home was between 16 and 54; 50 per cent of carers were in this category. Around 4,900 carers (3 per cent of these carers) were aged under 16. This group represents around 0.5 per cent of the under 16 population in Scotland.

Table 6.5: Carers Providing Care to People Outwith Their Own Home - Age and Sex Breakdown ¹, 2002

¹ Figures are grossed up to reflect population levels and rounded to the nearest 100.
Source: Scottish Household Survey

Table 6.5 presents information on the number of carers providing informal care to people outwith their own home in Scotland during 2002.

In 2002, there were an estimated 503,400 carers in Scotland (10 per cent of the population) providing care to people outwith their own home. Around two-thirds of these carers were women.

The majority of carers providing care to people outwith their own home were in the 16 to 54 age group; 64 per cent of carers were within this category.

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