Carers

This topic area covers statistics and information relating to carers in Hull including local strategic need and service provision. Further information relating to general health needs relating to people, such as number of people living alone who care for others, is also covered in General Health within Adults, and information on vulnerable groups is covered within Vulnerable Groups. Some further information relating to caring responsibilities is given within our Adult and Young People Health and Wellbeing Surveys within Tools and Resources.

This page contains information from the Office for Health Improvement & Disparities’ Fingertips. Information is taken ‘live’ from the site so uses the latest available data from Fingertips and displays it on this page. As a result, some comments on this page may relate to an earlier period of time until this page is next updated (see review dates at the end of this page).

Headlines

• Whilst caring for an ill, elderly or disabled relative or friend can be rewarding, it can be a difficult experience without the right support.
• From the 2021 Census which collected information on unpaid caring among children and adults aged 5+ years, there were around 123 (0.5%) primary school age children, 283 (1.8%) secondary school age children, and overall around 507 (1.2%) children and young people aged 5-17 years who were unpaid carers in Hull which increased to 749 (2.1%) boys and 954 (2.8%) girls for children and young people aged 5-24 years. Not surprisingly, the percentages increased with age, and were higher among girls for all ages. Reported levels of unpaid care among young people were generally higher in England compared to Hull except for the older ages.
• From the 2021 Census across all ages 5+ years, just under 8,900 men provided unpaid care in Hull compared to over 12,300 women, including almost 4,700 men and almost 6,400 women who provided care for 35+ hours per week. A higher percentage of women provided unpaid care compared to men for all ages except those aged 85+ years, and a higher percentage of women provide care for 35+ hours per week among those aged 16-74 years. Women aged 50-64 years are particularly affected – possibly providing care for both children and for elderly parents – with one in six providing unpaid care.
• Whilst there are proportionally fewer Hull residents providing care than compared with the region or England as a whole, the Hull residents who do provide care do so for more hours per week.
• The 2021 Census took place during the COVID-19 pandemic and may account for the decrease in the percentage and number of unpaid carers in Hull since the last census in 2011 (from 9.9% to 8.5%). However, whilst overall there was a decrease in unpaid carers between 2011 and 2021, there was an increase in the percentage of the resident population aged 5+ years stating they provided unpaid care for 20+ hours per week (from 4.6% to 5.2%).
• However, from the GP Patient Survey in 2023, 20.1% of patients registered with Hull GPs who participated in the survey were an unpaid carer which was slightly higher than England at 19.5%. From previous GP Patient Surveys, the percentages remained relatively constant around 17-18% between 2012 and 2018, before decreasing to just over 15% for 2019 and 2020. The percentage gradually increased since then to a new high of 20.1% in 2023, and has been higher than England for the last three years. It is not known why the percentage decreased in 2019 prior to the pandemic, but it could be associated with changes with the survey methodology.
• From the local adult Health and Lifestyle Survey 2011-12, 16% of respondents reported that they were responsible for the long-term care of someone.
• Based on modelled data, it is estimated that 5,300 people aged 65+ years provide unpaid personal care for their partner, a family member or other person, and this is projected to increase to around 6,400 by 2040.
• Whilst the percentage of adult carers in Hull who have as much social contact as they would like is higher than England, it is low with only 37% having as much social contact as they would like. Among adult social care users, around half had as much social contact as they would like in Hull.

The Population Affected – Why Is It Important?

Whilst caring for an ill, elderly or disabled relative or friend can be rewarding, it can be a difficult experience without the right support. Some carers sacrifice their own way of life, lifestyles, and careers to become carers and the needs of other family and friends for their loved ones, and it can affect the carer’s physical and emotional health if the care needs are high or the carer does not have sufficient support. With the ageing population, it is often the case that elderly couples are caring for the other, with the carer also having significant health needs. The Care Act gives specific rights to all carers and places a responsibility on the local authority to assess and meet their needs.

The Hull Picture

Young Carers

Carer Information From 2021 Census

There is no regularly produced national information on young carers except for information available from the 2021 Census. Survey responders were asked, “Do you look after, or give any help or support to, anyone because they have long-term physical or mental health conditions or illnesses, or problems related to old age?” People were asked to exclude anything they did as part of their paid employment, and the caring question was completed for all children and adults ages 5+ years.

The number of young carers is small in Hull for specific ages, and the Census uses statistical disclosure control to ensure that individuals cannot be identified. This might mean that they swap records (targeted record swapping), for example, if a household was likely to be identified because of unusual characteristics. They also use cell key perturbation which means that they might change a count of four to a three or a five. This means that the numbers are not an exact count in Hull, and also not everyone completes a Census form. For young children and perhaps older children and young adults, it is also possible that parents or carers could have completed the information on their behalf. The 2021 Census was conducted in March 2021 during the pandemic which could have influenced responses. Despite these caveats, the Census provides a really good snapshot of caring responsibilities across Hull among children and young people.

Based on the information from the 2021 Census, there were around 123 primary school age children, 283 secondary school age children, and overall around 507 children and young people aged 5-17 years who were unpaid carers in Hull. This represented around 0.5%, 1.8% and 1.2% of the overall population in these age groups. Among children and young people aged 5-17 years, 1.0% of boys and 1.3% of girls were unpaid carers. This increased to 749 (2.1%) boys and 954 (2.8%) girls for children and young people aged 5-24 years.

Not surprisingly, the percentages increased with age, and were higher among girls for all ages. Reported levels of unpaid care among young people were generally higher in England compared to Hull except for the older ages.

Gender	Age	Hull population	Hull unpaid carer	Hull unpaid carer (%)	England unpaid carer (%)
Male	5-11	12,240	53	0.4	0.6
Male	12-16	8,268	115	1.4	1.8
Male	17-19	4,601	172	3.6	3.5
Male	20-24	9,370	409	4.2	4.3
Male	5-17	21,938	224	1.0	1.2
Male	5-19	25,109	340	1.3	1.5
Male	5-24	34,479	749	2.1	2.2
Female	5-11	11,783	70	0.6	0.7
Female	12-16	8,564	168	2.2	2.2
Female	17-19	4,330	191	4.2	4.3
Female	20-24	9,122	525	5.4	5.2
Female	5-17	20,757	283	1.3	1.5
Female	5-19	23,677	429	1.8	1.9
Female	5-24	32,799	954	2.8	2.8
Persons	5-11	24,023	123	0.5	0.7
Persons	12-16	15,832	283	1.8	2.0
Persons	17-19	8,931	363	3.9	3.9
Persons	20-24	18,492	934	4.8	4.8
Persons	5-17	42,695	507	1.2	1.4
Persons	5-19	48,786	769	1.6	1.7
Persons	5-24	67,278	1,703	2.5	2.5

Carer Information From Local Survey 2012

In Hull’s Young People Health and Wellbeing Survey conducted in 2012, one-third of secondary school pupils stated that they helped look a “disabled or ill mother”, “disabled or ill father”, “disabled or ill brother or sister”, “elderly grandparents” or “someone else”. Younger pupils were more likely to state they had one or more of these caring responsibilities.

School year	Males N	Males %	Females N	Females %	All N	All %
Year 7	81	39.5	105	42.9	187	41.5
Year 8	106	38.7	86	30.5	192	34.3
Year 9	171	33.1	171	32.4	342	32.6
Year 10	128	26.7	151	35.2	280	30.7
Year 11	58	28.0	67	27.7	125	27.8
Years 7-11*	544	32.9	580	33.5	1,124	33.2

There was a strong association with caring responsibilities and deprivation (based on the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2010). The percentages presented are standardised or adjusted for age and gender. Around 40% of pupils living in the fifth most deprived areas of Hull had caring responsibilities compared to around one-quarter of those pupils living in the fifth least deprived areas of Hull. This presumably represents both smaller family size of people living in the least deprived areas (77% of pupils living in these areas reported being either the only child or one or two children in the home compared to 58% of pupils living in the most deprived fifth of areas of Hull) as well as the greater ability of the parents and carers to pay for childcare and other caring costs.

Further information is given in the full survey report available at Hull’s Young People Health and Wellbeing Survey 2012.

The percentages differ from the local survey differ markedly from those quoted from the Office for Health Improvement & Disparities’ Fingertips, and both sets of data relate to relatively old information. It is possible that the information from Fingertips underestimates the numbers of carers, and it is possible that local data overestimates the numbers of carers. It is possible that young people in the local survey have interpreted “help look after” as general helping duties and chores at home and have not necessarily answered the question in relation to “disabled or ill” relatives, although it is likely that some help look after elderly grandparents to some extent.

Adult Carers

Carer Information From GP Patient Survey

The GP Patient Survey asked people “Do you look after, or give any help or support to family members, friends, neighbours or others because of either: long-term physical or mental ill-health disability, or problems related to old age?”.

In 2023, one-fifth of all patients aged 16+ years registered with Hull GPs (03F) who participated in the GP Patient Survey stated they were carers, which was similar to other sub-Integrated Care Board areas within the Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board.

The GP Patient Survey involves a relatively large sample, but it is possible (with all surveys) that there is a difference between those who responded and those who did not, so it is not known how representative the sample is in relation to Hull’s overall population. For the GP Patient Survey in 2024, 9,842 questionnaires were sent out with 2,537 returned (26%), although the number of questionnaires returned and the response rate have reduced over recent years (for instance, in 2001, 12,458 questionnaires were sent out with 4,224 (34%) returned).

The percentage of patients participating in the GP Patient Survey who stated they were carers was relatively consistent at around 17-18% between 2012 and 2018, but fell to just over 15% for both 2019 and 2020. The latter may have been associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the percentage increased from 18.5% in 2020 to 20.1% in 2023 which is the highest rate it has been. This could be due to increased awareness of friends, family and neighbours who needed help during the pandemic or a continuation of support, or simply reflect difficulties in obtaining home care, or an ageing population. Except for 2019 and 2020, the pattern of change in Hull has been similar to that of England and the Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board. For the last three years, the percentage of carers has been greater than England.

Carer Information From 2021 Census

Census 2021 asked “Do you look after, or give any help or support to, anyone because they have long-term physical or mental health conditions or illnesses, or problems related to old age?” People were asked to exclude anything they did as part of their paid employment. The wording of the question differs from the 2011 Census question, which began “Do you look after, or give any help or support to family members, friends, neighbours or others?”.

Census 2021 was undertaken during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which may also have influenced how people perceived and undertook their provision of unpaid care and therefore may have affected how people chose to respond.

From the Census it is estimated that over 21,000 people in Hull provide unpaid care in a typical week. This represents one in every 12 residents aged 5+ years in Hull.

Of all usual residents in Hull aged 5 years and over, there were an estimated:

• 5,500 people who provided 9 hours or less of unpaid care a week
• 2,600 people who provided 10 to 19 hours of unpaid care a week
• 2,000 people who provided 20 to 34 hours of unpaid care a week
• 3,000 people who provided 35 to 49 hours of unpaid care a week
• 8,000 people who provided 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week

	Hull	Yorkshire and the Humber	England
Total: All usual residents aged 5 and over	100% (251,061)	100% (5,182,215)	100% (53,413,098)
Provides no unpaid care	91.5% (229,820)	90.9% (4,710,223)	91.2% (48,734,833)
Provides 9 hours or less unpaid care a week	2.2% (5,515)	3.1% (159,662)	3.1% (1,668,989)
Provides 10 to 19 hours unpaid care a week	1.0% (2,633)	1.2% (63,307)	1.2% (634,736)
Provides 20 to 34 hours unpaid care a week	0.8% (2,025)	0.9% (45,737)	0.8% (452,264)
Provides 35 to 49 hours unpaid care a week	1.2% (3,122)	1.1% (55,116)	1.0% (517,505)
Provides 50 or more hours unpaid care a week	3.2% (7,946)	2.9% (148,170)	2.6% (1,404,771)
Provides some unpaid care	8.5% (21,241)	9.1% (471,992)	8.8% (4,678,265)

Just under 8,900 men provided unpaid care in Hull compared to over 12,300 women, this included almost 4,700 men and almost 6,400 women who provided unpaid care for 35+ hours per week.

Age	Men population aged 5+	Men providing care	Men providing 35+ hours of care per week	Women population aged 5+	Women providing care	Women providing 35+ hours of care per week
5-15	27,128	129	45	26,007	194	34
16-24	16,265	618	239	15,543	766	290
25-34	20,109	1,024	526	20,929	1,673	939
35-49	25,841	2,022	1,024	24,974	3,155	1,723
50-64	24,947	2,918	1,394	24,448	4,252	1,914
65-74	11,665	1,330	822	11,933	1,530	940
75-84	5,549	661	480	6,777	677	475
85+	1,723	187	146	3,172	101	78
Overall	133,227	8,889	4,676	133,783	12,348	6,393

A higher percentage of women provided care compared to men for all ages except those aged 85+ years, and a higher percentage of women provided care for 35+ hours per week among those aged 16-74 years.

Women aged 50-64 years are particularly affected – possibly providing care for children and for elderly parents – with one in six providing some unpaid care, and one in 13 providing 35+ hours or care per week. Additionally, a similarly relatively high percentage of women aged 65-74 years provide 35+ hours of care per week.

Age	Men providing care	Men providing 35+ hours of care per week	Women providing care	Women providing 35+ hours of care per week
5-15	0.5	0.2	0.7	0.1
16-24	4.0	1.5	4.9	1.9
25-34	4.9	2.5	8.0	4.5
35-49	8.1	4.1	12.6	6.9
50-64	11.9	5.7	17.4	7.8
65-74	11.1	6.9	12.8	7.9
75-84	9.8	7.1	10.0	7.0
85+	5.9	4.6	3.2	2.5
Overall	6.6	3.5	9.2	4.8

Compared to the Yorkshire and Humber region and England as a whole, smaller percentages of Hull residents provide unpaid care in the groupings up to 20 to 34 hours unpaid care per week, whilst in the 35 to 49 hours unpaid care per week groups Hull residents provide more. However, overall, a smaller percentage of residents in Hull said that they had a unpaid care responsibility (Hull 8.5%; Yorkshire and the Humber 9.1%; England 8.8%).

Comparisons between 2011 and 2021 data are made for three broad categories of unpaid care. This is because of differences in the number of categories included in the 2011 and 2021 census questions.

Furthermore, the information is presented for all age groups in the 2011 Census (256,406 usual residents). It is possible to adjust this if it assumed that all 17,358 residents aged under five years do not provide unpaid care.

	2011	2011 (adjusted*)	2021
All categories: Provision of unpaid care	100.0% (256,406)	100.0% (239,048)	100% (251,061)
Provides no unpaid care	90.8% (232,770)	90.1% (215,412)	91.5% (229,820)
Provides 1 to 19 hours unpaid care a week	4.9% (12,602)	5.3% (12,602)	3.2% (8,148)
Provides 20 to 49 hours unpaid care a week	1.4% (3,622)	1.5% (3,622)	2.1% (5,147)
Provides 50 or more hours unpaid care a week	2.9% (7,412)	3.1% (7,412)	3.2% (7,946)
Provides some unpaid care	9.2% (23,636)	9.9% (23,636)	8.5% (21,241)
Provides 20 or more hours of unpaid care a week	4.3% (11,034)	4.6% (11,034)	5.2% (13,093)

Between the 2011 and 2021 censuses the percentage of Hull residents who recorded that they provide unpaid care decreased – from 9.9% in 2011 to 8.5% in 2011. This equates to 2,395 fewer Hull residents having an unpaid caring responsibility overall. However, decreases have only been recorded in the group of residents who provide 1 to 19 hours unpaid care a week (4,454 fewer residents), whilst increases were seen in those who provided 20 to 49 hours of unpaid care a week (1,525 more residents) and 50 or more hours unpaid care a week (534 more residents).

So whilst there are fewer people providing care overall, among those that do provide care, there has been a shift to more caring hours.

Possible explanations for changes in the provision of unpaid care could include:

• coronavirus guidance on reducing travel and limiting visits to people from other households
• unpaid carers who previously shared caring responsibilities may have taken on all aspects of unpaid care because of rules on household mixing during the coronavirus pandemic
• there were a higher number of deaths than expected in the older population at the beginning of 2021 due to coronavirus (COVID-19) and other causes; this could have led to a reduction in the need for unpaid care
• changes in the question wording between 2011 and 2021 may have had an impact on the number of people who self-reported as unpaid carers
• changes in the definition used and the way the data was presented between 2011 and 2021 could have had an impact (all residents in 2011 and residents aged 5+ years in 2021) and the assumption that all residents aged 0-4 years were recorded in the ‘no unpaid care’ category may be incorrect.

Carer Information From Local Health and Wellbeing Survey 2019

From the local adult Health and Wellbeing Survey 2019, 16% of respondents reported that they were responsible for the long-term care of someone, with the highest percentage caring for a sick or disabled partner (5.1%). A slightly higher percentage (at 17.9%) stated they had caring responsibilities in the more recent local survey.

Women, people aged 45-64 years, people living in the the most deprived areas of Hull, people who were not working as they were looking after family and/or the home were more likely to state they cared for at least one person as were those who lived in households with more adults, and lone parents with three or more children.

In the local survey, one in nine helped with housework or gardening, preparing meals, or went shopping for them, and one in 12 helped the person getting washed and/or dressed, or helped feed themselves. Among just those who stated they were carers, two-thirds helped with household and/or gardening, prepared meals or went shopping for the person, and half of carers were involved with personal care.

Activity – percentage helping daily or weekly	All survey responders (%)	Carers only (%)
Helping the person wash, dress or feed themselves etc.	8.4	50.5
Giving them medication	7.6	45.8
Doing housework (cleaning and clothes washing etc) or gardening	11.7	69.6
Helping with finances (pay bills etc)	6.8	41.4
Preparing meals for them	11.1	66.0
Going shopping for them (food, medication)	11.6	69.1
Giving them lifts (to doctor’s or hospital appointments etc)	6.6	39.5

Overall, 7.7% of survey responders spent 20 hours or more caring for someone (or more than one person) per week.

Number of Carers Projected in the Future

The Projecting Older People Population Information Service (POPPI) provide current estimates and future projections at local authority level of the number of people with caring responsibilities.

They use estimates for the percentage from different surveys and research which have generally been derived at a national level (generally different percentage estimates for different age groups for men and women separately) in this case from the 2011 Census. They then apply these percentage figures to Hull’s population. For instance, if the percentage among males in England in a specific age group is 5% and there are an estimated 500 men living in Hull in that age groups, they would estimate there were 25 men in that age group living in Hull with caring responsibilities. Other factors such as deprivation are generally not considered in their modelling.

Further definitions are available from www.poppi.org.uk.

Age of carer	Hours of care	2023	2025	2030	2035	2040
65-69	1-19	810	850	944	890	817
70-74	1-19	506	506	555	619	590
75-79	1-19	298	315	298	332	373
80-84	1-19	116	118	158	152	170
85+	1-19	67	67	68	87	94
65-69	20-49	284	298	330	312	286
70-74	20-49	215	215	236	263	250
75-79	20-49	149	157	149	166	186
80-84	20-49	68	69	92	89	99
85+	20-49	33	33	34	43	47
65-69	50+	834	876	972	917	841
70-74	50+	777	777	852	950	905
75-79	50+	716	757	716	798	897
80-84	50+	380	387	519	497	555
85+	50+	220	220	224	285	309
Total 65+	Total 1+	5,471	5,644	6,148	6,399	6,418

Sufficient Social Contact Among Current Carers

The Office for Health Improvement & Disparities’ Fingertips provide information on the percentage of adult carers who have as much social contact as they would like from the Personal Social Services Survey of Adult Carers. For 2023/24, the percentages in Hull were higher than England, but low as just over one-third of carers stated that they had as much social contact as they would like.

The percentage in Hull decreased sharply between 2014/15 and 2021/22 from over 38% to 23% among carers aged 18+ years, and whilst the percentages decreased for England, the decrease in Hull has been greater. However, in the last year, the percentages have increased and are now statistically significantly higher than England. Despite the sharp increase in Hull in the last year, the percentage is still lower than it was in 2012/13.

Sufficient Social Contact Among Current Adult Social Care Users

There is also information on having sufficient social contact among current adults social care users. For 2023/24, a higher percentage of adult social care users in Hull had as much social contact as they would like compare to England at just over half of adult social care users. For 2022/23, almost half of adult adult social care users in Hull who were aged 65+ years had as much social contact as they would like and this was also higher than England.

There has been year-on-year variability in the percentage of adult social care users aged 18+ years who state they have as much social contact as they would like, although the percentage has been increasing since 2010/11. There was a decrease for 2020/21 likely associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, lockdowns and reduced social contact.

Among adult social care users aged 65+ years, there has also been year-on-year variability but it has been lower than that for the 18+ year age group. Furthermore, the percentages reporting that they have as much social contact as they would like has remained relatively constant varying between 45% and 54% (with a slightly lower percentage for 2020/21 due to the pandemic).

Strategic Need and Service Provision

There is a need to work with partners to ensure that services are integrated, high quality and accessible in ways that offer people appropriate choices. Also working with partners to promote self-care, reablement or mutual support in community settings so this is viewed as the norm and reduce reliance on residential or home care. Where appropriate, ensure provision of specialist and adapted housing that is fit for purpose. The Care Act 2014 gives carers the right to receive services in their own right and focuses around promoting wellbeing and meeting needs rather than simple provision of services and on preventing, reducing or delaying the development of need, so individual needs should be assessed holistically within the context of the person’s support network and each individual’s circumstances considered, in order to provide the most appropriate care, help and support for that individual.

The vision from the National Carers Strategy is that by 2018, carers will be universally recognised and valued as being fundamental to strong families and stable communities. Support will be tailored to meet individuals needs enabling carers to maintain a balance between their caring responsibilities and a life outside of caring, whilst enabling the person they support to be a full and equal citizen. This includes supporting carers at an early stage, recognising the value of their contribution and involving them from the outset both in designing local care provision and in planning individual care packages. It is also important to enable those with caring responsibilities to fulfil their educational and employment potential, and having personalised support, and that they remain mentally and physical well. It is important to give them a ‘voice’ in decisions about service development, promoting knowledge about carers’ rights, offering training, breaks and respite, and increasing the number of annual carers’ assessments as well as increasing access to information.

The local council and the the NHS are keen to ensure that carers support is of a high standard and provided locally in local communities and facilities in which carers already spend much of their time. The local Carers Support Service must be personalised to carers’ individual needs and circumstances and services must be provided to a wide range of carers, particularly those with complex caring responsibilities and those who are not currently receiving any services, or are not familiar with support available.

The local Carers Information and Support Service aims to improve the quality of life for carers in Hull, helping them sustain their caring role, and enhancing their ability to enjoy a life of their own through the provision of a range of person, coordinated and outcome focused services. The key priorities for the carers journey and to improve the quality of life for carers are: (1) Think Carer, Think Family; Make Every Contact Count; (2) Support what works for carers, share and learn from others; (3) Right care, right time, right place for carers; (4) Measure what matters to carers; (5) Support for carers depends on partnership working; (6) Leadership for carers at all levels; (7) Train staff to identify and support carers; (8) Prioritise carers health and wellbeing; (9) Invest in carers to sustain and save; and (10) Support carers to access local resources.

Hull City Council also has a Young Carers Project which is an assessment and support service for young people aged between 5 and 18 years who are impacting by caring responsibilities. It is delivered by the Youth Development Service and aims to offer tailored support when needed with a variety of wider opportunities for young carers.

There is work locally to identify, learn and report to local commissioners cases where ‘hidden carers’ are  apparent  locally and provide these carers with access to appropriate support with to continue their caring role. The service provides regular episodes of outreach support work within GP surgeries, hospitals, and with healthcare professionals, faith organisations, places of further education and leisure centres to identify carers and ensure they are signposted to appropriate support and in doing so ensure that carers are provided with the necessary information to manage their own health and wellbeing. It will also ensure an intensive support service is provided to carers who are in crisis or near breakdown for a maximum duration of six weeks, following an assessment of their need. The provider is to record the type of support provided, the impact of the support provided, and report on the outcomes achieved for the carer. It will also provide support and information to carers to access education and training.

Resources

The Office for Health Improvement & Disparities’ Fingertips. https://fingertips.phe.org.uk

Projecting Older People Population Information System. https://www.poppi.org.uk

Hull’s local Health and Wellbeing Surveys

Updates

This page was last updated / checked on 7 February 2025.

This page is due to be updated / checked in June 2025.