Three million females and two million males in England and Wales are unpaid carers - 9.7% of the usual resident population (8.9% in England and 10.5% in Wales)
The highest percentage of unpaid carers was among people aged between 55 and 59 for females and between 60 and 64 years-old for men
One in five (19.9%) females aged 55 to 59 provide unpaid care, with females in every age group significantly more likely to provide unpaid care up to the 75 to 79 age group; from age 80 onwards, men are more likely to provide care
There is a higher percentage of people providing unpaid care in deprived areas
There was an overall decrease in the % of unpaid carers between 2011 and 2021, according to Census data. But an increase in the number providing 20 hours or more of care a week.
According to PensionBee the lost private pension contributions for a woman aged 55 on a typical salary who gives up full time work to become an unpaid carer are likely to result in a pension pot that is around £33,000 lower when she reaches age 66.
Becky O’Connor, Director of Public Affairs at PensionBee commented: “Unpaid carers make huge personal sacrifices on many levels. One of these sacrifices is their pension provision. The impact on pension pot sizes and quality of life in retirement for unpaid carers, is significant.
“Taking time out of paid work to perform unpaid care results in an inability to earn as much, if anything, through paid work. This in turn makes it harder to continue to build up a big enough pension pot to retire. People in this situation are likely to have less private pension provision - and if they are giving up work earlier than planned, it might have to last them longer, too. This issue disproportionately affects women, as the ONS data suggests.
“The age ranges that contain the highest proportion of unpaid carers are pre-State Pension entitlement age of 66, but after the Normal Minimum Pension age of 55, when people can access their private pension for the first time. This makes it likely that giving up work to care for someone will create pressure on people to use their private pension savings for income earlier than they would ideally wish, leaving them at risk of having less later on in retirement.
“Carers who look after someone for more than 20 hours a week can get Carer’s Credit, so they at least don’t have to miss out on National Insurance contributions as a result of giving up work and can continue to look forward to the state pension. Unpaid carers could also be eligible for the Carer’s Element of Universal Credit, worth £69.70 a week*.
“However these entitlements do not make up for the lost ability to make private pension provision. The retirement living standards from the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association indicate that people need more than the state pension can provide for a basic living standard in retirement. The years lost to caring can cost people dearly later on.”
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