28 Mar 2019

Report: Breaking Point - the social care burden on women

The failings of the care system mean that women in particular are often left to pick up the pieces. Some are at breaking point and many more at risk of it. This report from Age UK shines a light on the stories of four women who are caring for a loved one.

Key findings

There are 1.25 million sandwich carers in the UK. These are people caring for an older relative as well as bringing up a family. 68% (850,743) are women.
Sandwich carers' ages range from 20s to 60s, but those aged 35-44 are the most likely to be carers with 35% being in this age group.
73% of sandwich carers provide under 10 hours of caring a week but 7% provide over 35 hours per week – that's 88,391 sandwich carers doing over 35 hours each week.
In total 78% of sandwich carers are in paid work and 49% of those carers providing over 35 hours are still in paid work.

The report calls on the government to publish its long awaited Social Care Green Paper to help tackle this growing issue.