One in six adults provide unpaid care

This briefing analyses national survey data from 2018 to 2025 on caring in the UK. It finds that one in six of all UK adults – equivalent to 8.9 million people – provided unpaid care in the period 2023–25. However, it acknowledges that the true extent of unpaid care may be higher, since not all unpaid carers will identify as such. It finds that caring responsibilities did not fall equally: older people were more likely to be unpaid carers and women were 29% more likely than men to be unpaid carers.