Characteristics of care providers and care receivers over time

Analysis over time of the characteristics of unpaid carers.

This report analyses the characteristics of people who provide unpaid care to family and friends, and characteristics associated with becoming a caregiver. It also looks at trends in the movement of older people into nursing or residential homes or ‘supported’ private households.

Based on Census data over a thirty-year period, the report:

• provides an overview of caregiving in England and Wales,
• examines the geographical distribution of caregivers by local authority, and
• maps poor health and deprivation among carers.

It then focuses on:

• family characteristics and education among carers in their 20s
• mid-life carers, examining their employment and health characteristics
• co-resident care for older parents
• caregiving among older couple
• characteristics of older people moving to live with relatives or into institutional care.

The more deprived an area, the higher the proportion of people providing 20 or more hours of care per week. The proportion of the population providing extensive care was also greater in areas with higher levels of poor health.

Age, gender, marital status and ethnicity

People of all ages were caregivers, but the proportions varied considerably by age. In 2001, 1 per cent of people in their twenties were providing 20 or more hours of care per week, compared with 6 per cent of people aged 50-59 (peak age) and 5 per cent of those aged 75 and over.

People from Bangladeshi and Pakistani ethnic groups were much more likely to be carers than those from other ethnic groups, taking account of differences in age structure. In all age and ethnic groups, women were more likely to provide care than men, although the size of this differential varied by age and ethnicity. The gender difference was most pronounced in Bangladeshi and Pakistani ethnic groups (see Figure 2).

Figure 2

Differences in caregiving by marital status also varied by age and gender. Among those aged 60 and over, married people were more likely than unmarried people to be carers, reflecting the fact that much care is for spouses. Middle-aged carers more often cared for parents, and among men aged 40-59, single (never-married) men were more likely than other men to provide care. Among both men and women in this age group, divorced and widowed people were the least likely to provide extensive care.

Health and socio-economic status

Proportions of carers among those aged 20-59 were higher among people with no or few educational qualifications. In older groups too there were more carers in less advantaged groups. Older carers (aged 65 and over) looking after a spouse were less likely than other married people of the same age to have central heating, own their home or have a car. Taking account of these differences, carers were also more likely to be in poor health themselves than others of the same age.

Employment

The analyses showed that young and mid-life carers providing care for 20 hours or more per week were less likely to be employed than non-caregivers or those providing less care. Middle-aged carers in 2001 were more likely to have given up employment since 1991. It is not possible to tell if this reflected giving up work because of caregiving; it could be that people who gave up work for other reasons were more likely to take on a caregiving role.

Women were more likely than men to combine caregiving and paid work. Women working in the public sector were more likely than those in the private sector to be caregivers. Employment history was also associated with being a carer. Women who had previously had a job with a caring element were more likely to be providing care in 2001. Additionally, mothers who were in employment in 1991 after having had children in the 1980s were less likely than mothers not working outside the home in 1991 to be providing care in 2001.

Intergenerational co-residence and care involving mid-life adults

In 2001, only 4 per cent of men and 2 per cent of women aged 35-54, and 2 per cent of men and women aged 55-64, lived with a parent. These were lower proportions than in 1991. However, nearly a quarter of never-married men aged 35-54 lived with a parent, and most of these seemed to be men who had never left home. Only about a fifth of co-resident children were providing 20 or more hours per week of care. In about 5 per cent of these intergenerational households, it seemed likely that the older parent was providing care for the adult child.

Moves to institutional care or to live with relatives

Some 9 per cent of women and 4 per cent of men aged 65 and over and living in the community in 1991 were in institutional care ten years later. These proportions varied considerably with age and gender; for instance, nearly a third of women aged 80 and over in 1991 were in institutional care ten years later. Characteristics associated with increased chance of this type of move included older age, being unmarried, poorer health, being a tenant rather than an owner occupier and, among women, having no children.

Overall, the proportion of people moving from living in the community to institutional residence between 1991 and 2001 was slightly lower than the equivalent figure for 1981 to 1991. In some cases, moving to live with relatives was an alternative to institutional care. However, the proportion of people who lived alone or just with a spouse in 1991 and with relatives by 2001 was very low. Widowed people were the most likely to move in with relatives, while never-married people had the highest chance of moving into institutional care.

Conclusion

Unpaid carers are an essential and vitally important component of the system of support for people with assistance needs. Many of those needing care are older people, and much of this care is provided by other older people or people in late middle age. However, there are caregivers of all ages, and caregivers are a heterogeneous group. Nevertheless, certain common features can be identified, including an association between caregiving and disadvantage. In general, people providing care for 20 or more hours per week are more likely to have health problems themselves and to live in poorer areas, and less likely to have educational qualifications, be in employment or be home owners. Additionally, people of lower socio-economic status have higher chances of moving into institutional care, even taking account of other factors influencing this transition.

About the project

The study used aggregated data from the 2001 Census and data from the ONS LS, including anonymised individual-level census data for an approximate 1 per cent sample of the population of England and Wales. The Longitudinal Study was initiated in 1974, and includes information from the 1971, 1981, 1991 and 2001 Censuses. This made it possible to look back at earlier circumstances of people who were carers in 2001 and examine changes in household type and other characteristics between one census and the next. The authors are grateful to the Office for National Statistics for access to the data, and to the ESRC-funded Centre for Longitudinal Study Information and User Support Service (CeLSIUS) for assistance.