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.
• Census 2021 showed that 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.
• Census 2021 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.
• There is no up-to-date information on young carers, but in the local survey there was a strong association with deprivation and age with younger secondary school pupils and young people living in the most deprived areas of Hull more likely to state that they looked after an ill or disabled relative or elderly grandparents.
• 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.
• There are estimated to be around 5,300 people aged 65+ years who 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.
• The percentage of adult carers in Hull who have as much social contact as they would like is lower than England and has fallen between 2012/13 and 2018/19.

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.

Census 2021

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. 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

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.

Between the 2011 and 2021 censuses the percentage of Hull residents who recorded that they provide unpaid care decreased – from 9.2% 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).

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

The Hull Picture

Young Carers

There is no up-to-date national information on young carers.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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 2021/22, the percentages in Hull were lower than England with around one in four carers stating that they had as much social contact as they would like.

The trends are also given on Fingertips. 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 have also decreased for England, the decrease in Hull has been greater and the percentage of adult carers having as much social contact as they would like is statistically significantly lower in Hull compared to England.

The percentage has also decreased sharply among carers aged 65+ years falling from just over 40% in 2014/15 to 27% in 2021/22.

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 9 March 2023.

This page is due to be updated / checked in September 2023.