Working for Carers is a London-wide project that supports unpaid carers, aged 25 or over, to pursue their employment goals through confidence building and skills development. The project is led by Carers Trust and delivered by its network of 24 partners across London. Working for Carers is funded by the European Social Fund and the National Lottery, through the Big Lottery Fund. Harrow Carers is the lead agency for north-west London.
Why Working for Carers?
- There are around seven million carers in the UK – that is one in ten people. This is an 11% rise since 2001, an increase of over 620,000. (UK Census, 2011).
- There are 689,000 carers in London (UK Census, 2011).
- 68% of unpaid carers in London are unemployed (Carers Trust, 2016).
- The overall employment rate for carers in the UK is 67% with over half of those who are not working saying that they wish to do so (UK Census, 2011).
- Nearly 70% said the main barriers to finding and keeping employment were the pressures of their caring role and 75% said it was the need for part-time work (Carers Trust, 2016).
- In the UK, family and caring responsibilities account for 26% of economic inactivity in the working age population, compared with 19% in Germany and 18% in the Netherlands (Equality and Human Rights Commission, 2008).
- £5.3bn has been wiped from the economy in lost earnings due to people having to leave work to take on caring responsibilities (Pickard, L, 2012).
- For those providing over 50 hours of care, 45% of men and 35% of women remain in work. Carers of working age were significantly less likely to be in work than non-carers of working age (Carers UK, 2014).
Please click here to view the Working for Carers Progress Report