Key Facts

Who are Scotland's Carers?

• There are 657,000 unpaid carers in Scotland.  There are more carers than the total health and social care workforce.
• 115,000 spend 50 hours or more a week providing care to a family member or friend. Some balance both caring and paid employment at the same time.
• Every day almost 500 people take on a caring responsibility - that's 178,000 people each year.

• Three in five of us will become carers at some point in our lives and by 2037 the number of carers in Scotland will have increased to around 1 million – that’s on fifth of the total Scottish population.

A breakdown of carers by local authority area can be found in our interactive maps section.

Carers and Poverty

The main carers' benefit is worth just £53.90 that equates to £1.54 per hour for a 35 hour week.  This is far short of the national minimum wage. Three quarters of carers struggle to pay electricity and gas bills and more than half cut back on essentials such as food and heat in order to manage financially and often just to make ends meet.

If carers cannot maintain employment, they can move into poverty very quickly.  On average, carers who have to give up work will lose £11,000 per annum in income.

Health and Wellbeing

Most carers have said that caring had negatively affected their health and wellbeing. Almost half reported that physical and other conditions developed after they had started caring thus demonstrating the toll that this can take on people, especially if they are not supported in their caring role. Financial concerns continue to have a significant effect on carers’ health.

Carers in the survey were keen to have opportunities for their own personal and social development, to reduce isolation, but poverty and lack of support can prevent them from taking up these opportunities.

More Information is available on the Carers Scotland website

Carers and Employment

Over 45% of carers are aged between 45 – 64 years of age. There is a negative impact on the labour market if carers are not supported to maintain work whilst caring. Yet, on average, one in five have to give up their jobs because of the burden of caring.

Ageing and the increasing population along with better health, mean that people have a greater life expectancy. This therefore means that more and more people will become carers at some point in their lives.  By 2037 it is estimated that there will be 1 million people in Scotland who have a caring role.  We cannot afford to lose these people from the job market.  It means that the chances of a 30 to 54 year old becoming a carer will increase by 88%

Carers tend to take on routine and lower skilled jobs which enable them to maintain caring and work.   Less than one tenth are in higher skilled or professional occupations.

What does this mean for you as an employer? Click here to find out more about supporting carers who work for you and the little things which can help you maintain the skills and experience you need.