Caring for carers
By Dr. Natasha Hirst on 21 July 2025
In the UK, there are an estimated 2.7 million people in employment providing unpaid care for family, friends or neighbours. The lack of recognition and support for carers results in inequalities that affect physical and mental health and finances. Employers can be proactive in acknowledging and supporting carers in their workforce and there is plenty of support to draw on.
The Carers UK ‘Caring about Equality Report’ sets out the complex and interrelated challenges that carers face. Katherine Wilson, Head of Employment & Specialist Delivery at Carers UK said, “Employers have a key role to play in supporting employees with caring responsibilities to stay in work wherever possible. One in seven are now juggling work with caring for a family member or someone close to them who is older, disabled, or has an illness or long-term condition. As our population ages, this is becoming more commonplace.
“Our research found that 73% of working carers have said it can be very stressful trying to juggle work and caring. At present 600 working carers leave their jobs every day to care and both they and their employers can lose out if this happens. Carers are impacted by lost income, an inability to save for the future and missed career opportunities. At the same time UK businesses lose an estimated £8.2 billion every year due to staff absence, turnover and stress.”
The ’Sandwich Generation’
Sherry King founded Sandwich Generation Support in 2022 to address a gap in support following her experience of caring for her mother whilst juggling a demanding job in the NHS and raising three young children. King was trying to support her father who was the main carer, but as a secondary carer she discovered that she was unable to access emotional and practical support.
Many carers experience a slow increase in their caring responsibilities, but some may be faced with a sudden life-changing event that sees them navigating their way through unexpected practical demands whilst also dealing with shock and grief. This can be on top of the day-to-day challenges of raising a family.
King highlights the importance of open conversations, flexibility and visibility from leadership. “You’re in the sandwich generation, and if it’s straight away, you’ve not had those conversations, or you don’t know what policies are there to support you – you don’t want that as an additional thing to worry about, as well as everything else that’s going on for you. Not everybody’s parents live within driving distance, there are some people who live abroad, some who are 3 or 4 hours away, so that real flexibility and being able to have those conversations as well, is really important.”
Through insight, training and coaching, King advises employers to lead by example to raise awareness and create environments that remove stigma around caring for ageing or ill relatives. Employees often hide their caring responsibilities due to fear of judgement or repercussions whereas childcare challenges are more socially accepted and supported. Ensuring policies are fit for purpose and putting practical support in place is the next step.
Carers may not know their rights, or where to go for practical advice, including accessing benefits, social services and advocacy. King promotes the value of coaching and one to one support for carers by providing space to discuss the emotional impact of caring as well as seeking practical guidance. “There’s that guilt of feeling you can’t be yourself properly in work, you’re trying to be everything to everybody. But actually, this is really hard. It’s one of the hardest things that’s ever going to happen to you. What can you put in place to look after you while you’re going through this, so that you’re able to support other people, and to be able to work?”
Improving policies for carers
TUC research shows that carers are most likely to be aged 45-64 with valuable experience and skills that employers are keen to retain. People can be carers at any age, with around 1 in 21 young people providing unpaid care in the UK. It can be valuable to work with trade union reps to engage carers, raise awareness and improve support. The TUC toolkit on supporting carers in the workplace sets out the challenges and rights for carers and practical support that employers can provide.
Claire McCartney, Policy and Practice Manager at the CIPD, notes why it is so important to consider the needs of carers. She said, “Working carers can often face challenges when balancing their caring responsibilities with work commitments, including increased stress and anxiety, impacts on career progression and financial pressures due to having to take unpaid leave or reduce their hours. Employers should foster an open and inclusive culture where people feel able to talk about these responsibilities and any additional support they might need. Every situation is different, so employers will need to speak to individuals about the arrangements and support that will best suit them.
The Carers UK report identified significant health inequalities for carers which can impact on performance at work. Wilson highlights that employers can provide practical support. “Health and wellbeing provisions including any employee assistance schemes and signposting to practical support should be clearly promoted to all. Carers are in every workplace and peer support and senior-level championing can also be invaluable. These are all practical steps that employers can consider to make a tangible difference to recruitment and retention of carers.”
Wilson also advocates asking staff what they need, “there are many ways that employers can support carers in the workplace, to make balancing their responsibilities more manageable and retain valuable skills and experience. Managers can ask staff members what might be helpful either directly or through staff surveys or others forms of feedback. Enabling more flexibility with working patterns can help. Paid carers leave makes a significant difference to those on low incomes, particularly women, with 80% of workers saying that this would help them balance work and care.”
Campaigners are calling on the UK Government to introduce a right to paid carers’ leave. Employers can lead the way by introducing this into the support they offer. McCartney recommends that, “employers should consider flexible working options they can offer where possible, including flexi-time, compressed hours or hybrid working, to make it easier for people to balance work with caring responsibilities. Carers’ leave, both paid and unpaid, can also be helpful in juggling care and work responsibilities.”
Some employers are already storming ahead with support that goes beyond statutory requirements. TSB is a Carer Confident Ambassador, first launching their Carers’ Policy in 2020, “giving employees with caring responsibilities access to 70 hours of paid Carer’s Leave each year and a Carer’s Passport – so carers need only tell their manager once throughout their TSB career about their situation.” They’ve since expanded their support to include a personalised one-to-one service in partnership with KareHero, aimed at reducing burnout and absenteeism.
Top tips
- Create a positive culture for supporting carers by raising awareness, increasing visibility through senior champions with lived experience and encouraging open discussion.
- Identify staff needs and improve policies and support, with external expertise and trade union input. There is no ‘typical’ carer and support may need to be tailored.
- Promote the range of internal and external support available to employees and how to access this.
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