Carers Rights Day – Welsh unpaid carers missing out on vital support
Carers Rights Day poll:
Welsh unpaid carers missing out on vital support as ‘public unable to recognise friends and family that care’
Half (50%) believe they ‘don’t know’ a single friend or, family member looking after a loved one, despite 1 in 10 Welsh people being carers.
The Welsh public remains ‘in the dark’, as half drastically underestimate the number of carers in their own family, friendship groups and places of work, according to new research by Carers UK released for Carers Rights Day (24 November).
The research shows that half (50%) believe they don’t know a ‘single family member or friend’ who cares, whilst almost 1 in 4 (22%) know a work colleague looking after a loved one. In reality, 1 in 10 (12%) Welsh residents are carers and 1 in 9 people in the UK workforce juggle a paid job with unpaid caring.
The findings come one year after Carers UK’s Missing Out report showed the impact of carers not being identified quickly enough. Amongst carers who ‘struggled’ to recognise their roles, half saw their finances (50%) and mental health (76%) negatively affected as a result.
Amongst all of those polled, including those that had not recognised carers in their social circles or at work, 7 in 10 (70%) said they would feel confident providing ‘emotional support’ to a new carer. Yet, less than half (45%) would feel confident pointing people in the direction of information about caring. Carers Wales is asking the public to equip themselves with more knowledge and understanding of how to support carers, to improve confidence in reaching out to carers.
Please click on this link for the full press release in English
Please click on this link for the full press release in Welsh
