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CHAPTER THREE: DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF UNPAID CARERS

3.1 This section examines in more detail, the demographic characteristics of carers compared with non-carers and compares different groups of carers. Analysis of Black and Miniority Ethnic carers was not possible in the current report, given the small number of BME carers in the data (n = 70 over 6 years).

Carers compared with non-carers

3.2 Table 3.1 and Table 3.2 display the age, sex, and marital status of carers and non-carers. The results confirm the regression analysis and indicate that a higher proportion of carers are female than male (62% versus 38% compared with a 54%/ 46% female to male split among non-carers). However, the sex difference among carers reduces with age. Up until the age of 59, a significantly higher proportion of carers than non-carers are female but after the age of 75, a higher proportion of non-carers than carers are female.

Table 3.1: Age, sex and marital status of Carers (%)

Table 3.2: Age, sex and marital status of Non-carers (%)

3.3 Perhaps expectedly, caring is concentrated among slightly older adults - adults aged 45-59 years account for 24% of non-carers but 36% of all carers (see Table 3.3). Conversely, adults aged 16-24 years account for 12% of non-carers but just 6% of all carers. There is a concentration of carers in 'older smaller' and 'large adult' households which respectively contain 21% and 19% of carers while only comprising 16% of non-caring households (see Table 3.4). These results reflect the fact that carers tend to be older individuals who do not live on their own (often as they are caring for a household member).

Table 3.3: Age and household type of Carers (%)

Table 3.4: Age and household type of Non-carers (%)

Care in and out of household

3.4 The age profile of carers within and outwith the household differs, with the former tending to be older (40% of those caring within their own household are aged 60 years or over compared with 23% of those caring outwith their household and 30% of non-carers. The results are displayed in Figure 3.1.

Figure 3.1: Age of carers providing care in and outwith the household, compared with non-carers 1999-2004 (%)
Base: Care in house: 16 - 24 = 122; 25 - 34 = 307; 35 - 44 = 477; 45 - 59 = 748; 60 - 74 = 863; 75+ = 242; All = 2759. Care outside house: 16 - 24 = 398; 25 - 34 = 971; 35 - 44 = 1576; 45 - 59 = 2721; 60 - 74 = 1583; 75+ = 355; All = 7604. Non-carers: 16 - 24 = 6589; 25 - 34 = 12418; 35 - 44 = 14092; 45 - 59 = 16646; 60 - 74 = 16626; 75+ = 9832; All = 76203.

3.5 As can be seen from Table 3.5, overall, both types of carers are more commonly female than male (42%/58% male female split for those who care in the household and 37%/63% split for those caring outwith the household ).

Table 3.5: Age and sex of carers providing care in and out of the household compared with non-carers (%)

3.6 A higher proportion of carers proving care in rather than outwith the household are married (74% versus 64% - see Table 3.6). This may be as carers in the household are often older adults caring for their spouse or partner. This explanation is reinforced by the fact that of those adults aged 75 years and older, 91% of those caring inside compared with 48% of those caring outside the household are married.

Table 3.6: Age and marital of carers providing care in and out of the household compared with non-carers (%)

3.7 As can be seen from Table 3.7, adults caring for someone within rather than outwith their household most commonly live in 'older smaller' households (36% compared with 14%). Again, this is a consequence of the high proportion of older spouse carers. In contrast, those caring outwith the household are more likely than those caring inside the household to live in small adult households (23% compared with 15%). There were also age differences between these two types of carers which were linked to the fact that carers inside the household live in at least two person households. For example, 87% of those caring within the household aged 75 and over live in older smaller households whereas those caring out of the household live in older smaller and single pensioner households (49% and 47% respectively).

Table 3.7: Age and household type of carers providing care in and out of the household compared with non-carers (%)

Sole carers

3.8 Differences between sole carers and other carers in the household were investigated. Sole carers are a potentially vulnerable group. It should be noted that due to the way the data is collected in the SHS, sole carers only refer to those adults who are providing sole care for someone within their household. It was not possible to identify adults providing sole care to someone outside their household. Therefore, we can say that at least 16% of all carers are sole carers but the actual proportion is likely to be much higher. Of those caring for another household member, 53% are sole carers. Thus, the comparisons in this section are between sole carers in the household and other carers in the household compared with non-carers. As carers who care for someone in the household cannot live in single adult or single pensioner households, these households were removed from the analysis in order to make more valid comparisons with non-carers.

3.9 As with carers in general, sole carers were more commonly female than male (64% versus 36% compared with 55% versus 45% of non-carers - see Table 3.8). This was true for every age group, other than those aged 75 years and older where there was no sex difference (51% and 49% female). There was no overall sex difference for other carers in the household (51% female and 49% male). However, there were sex differences dependent on age with these carers more likely to be female up to the age of 44 years old, and more likely to be male over the age of 45 ( e.g. 65% versus 35% of those aged 75 years and older). It should be noted that for every age group, a higher proportion of other carers in the household than sole carers were male.

Table 3.8: Age and sex of sole carers and other carers providing care in the household compared with non-carers (%)

3.10 Sole carers are more likely to be older adults than both other carers in the household and non-carers (see Table 3.8). For example, 46% of sole carers are over 60 years old compared with 31% of other carers and 24% of non-carers. In fact, only 9% of sole carers were 16-34 years old compared with 21% of other carers and 30% of non-carers.

3.11 As can be seen from Table 3.9, just under half of sole carers (47%) live in older smaller households, compared with only 24% of other carers in the household and 20% of non-carers. Just under a third of other carers live in large adult households (31%), compared with 15% of sole carers and 20% of non-carers.

Table 3.9: Age and household type of sole carers and other carers providing care in the household compared with non-carers (%)

Key Points

• A higher proportion of carers than non-carers are female, and are older adults.
• There is a concentration of carers in older smaller and large adult households.
• Those who care inside the household are generally older individuals than those who care outside the household, with both types of carers more likely to be female.
• A higher proportion of those who care in rather than outwith the household are married, because of the high proportion of older spouse carers.
• Those who care in the household most commonly live in older smaller households, again because of the high proportion of older spouse carers.
• Sole carers are more commonly female than male, and tend to be older individuals than other adults who provide care in the household.
• Sole carers more commonly live in older smaller households.

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