Facing the facts

The 2001 Census reports that there were 5.67 million carers in Great Britain.
Of these:

• 58% of carers were women
  
• 42% were men


• 68% of carers provided care for up to 19 hours a week, 11% for 20 to 49 hours and 21% for 50 or more hours


• Over 65s account for around a third of all carers providing more than 50 hours of care a week (taken from the government strategy Building a society for all ages) In the 45–59 age group16% of all men (over 900,000) and 23% of all women (over 1.3 million women) are carers (taken from Carers UK)


• Of the £255 million underpinning the national carers strategy, £150 million was allocated to planned short breaks for carers, up to £38 million towards supporting carers to enter or re-enter the job market; and £6 million towards improving support for young carers.