During Carers Week events take place all around the UK to celebrate and recognise unpaid carers. The website allows searches for events in your area.
Some facts (from the 2001 Census) about caring highlighted on the Carers Week website are-
· 10 per cent of the total population are carers which is nearly six million people in the UK.
· There are 1.9 million people caring for more than 20 hours per week and 1.25 million care for more than 50 hours per week.
· Women are more likely to be carers than men. There are 3.4 million female carers (58 per cent of carers) and nearly 2.5 million male carers (42 per cent).
· Most carers (5.7 million) are aged over 18 and the peak age for caring is 50 to 59.
· More than one in five people aged 50-59 (1.5 million across the UK) are providing some unpaid care.
· There are 174,995 young people under the age of 18 who provide care, 13,029 of these provide care for 50 hours or more per week.
· There are three million people combine work with caring responsibilities for a disabled, ill or frail relative or friend. This is roughly one in eight workers in the UK.