Written evidence submitted by the Carers UK (SPA0028)

1.              About Carers UK

1.1              Carers UK is a charity set up to help the millions of people who provide unpaid care for family or friends. We are a membership organisation of unpaid carers.  We are primary providers of expert information and advice about caring, alongside practical and emotional support. We campaign and undertake research to make life better for carers and work to influence policy makers, employers, and service providers, ensuring carers lived experiences are prioritised. 

1.2              Carers UK also set up and runs Employers for Carers, an employers forum with a membership of 250 employers covering 3 million employees. Carers UK has a benchmark for employers; Carer Confident in the UK and Carer Positive in Scotland.  Carers UK includes Carers Scotland, Carers Wales and Carers Northern Ireland.

Evidence:

2.              Particular characteristics of the 60 to 66 age group to take account of in assessing how policies support the transition to pension age.

2.1              Caring is a particular characteristic which needs to be taken account of in policies supporting transition to pension age. Caring has a negative impact on labour market participation, health and disability, income and poverty.

Carers’ lower labour market activity

2.2              Carers have lower labour market participation rates than non-carers. They are more likely to not be working or be working part-time. There is an employment gap between working-age carers (62% in employment) and non-carers (75% in employment).[1] People providing unpaid care are more likely than those without caring responsibilities to be working part time. The Census 2021 in England and Wales found that 38% of carers in employment are working part time compared with 29% of non-carers in employment. Carers in employment caring for 50 or more hours a week are more likely to be working in elementary occupations than carers in employment caring for 19 hours or less (12% compared with 7%).[2]

2.3              Carers UK analysis of the Census 2021 for this Inquiry shows there are a total of 720,535 carers aged 60 to 66 in England and Wales. Whilst the age group (60 to 66) gives a labour market participation rate of 45%, this masks a significant difference in work patterns from 60 to 66. When aged 60, carers’ labour market participation rates are 57% with a slight majority in full time work compared with part-time work.  By the time they are 66, this has dropped to 25% of carers in work and with a majority in part-time work.[3]

2.4              Carers UK previous research has estimated that 600 carers a day give up work to care.[4]  Polling by the Centre for Social Justice found that 41% of working carers were contemplating exiting the workforce or reducing work hours due to caregiving demands.[5]

2.5              Even if they are in employment, carers are also often working below their potential as it is difficult to juggle work and care.

Carers poorer health and disability

2.6              Carer’s health is poorer than the non-carer population overall, The 2025 GP Patient survey in England asked people whether they had any long-term physical or mental health conditions, disabilities or illnesses. 72% of carers said they did, compared to 61% of non-carers. This has become 2% worse in the last year.[6]

2.7              Carers are also more likely than non-carers to be disabled. 1.4 million carers are disabled in England and Wales. This translates to 28% of carers who are disabled, compared with only 18% of non-carers.9

Poverty and caring

2.8              Carers are more likely to be in poverty compared with non-carers. 1.4 million unpaid carers are in poverty.  Those in receipt of Carer’s Allowance, the main carer’s benefit, are more likely to be in poverty than non-carers.[7]

2.9              The longer that someone remains on state benefits, the more likely they are to be in poverty.

2.10              There are 161,594 carers aged 60 to 66 in receipt of Carer’s Allowance, the main carer’s benefit. This is paid to people providing at least 35 hours of care for someone receiving a qualifying disability benefit.[8] The rate is £83.30 per week (2025/6 rates). It is the lowest benefit of its kind.

2.11              Around 26,000 people receive Carer’s Allowance in each age year, until the age of 66 when this drops to nearly 2,500 because of the overlapping benefit rule, where the majority of carers’ state pensions are of greater value than Carer’s Allowance.[9] 

2.12              The differential between a carer receiving Universal Credit (UC), Carer’s Allowance, Carer Element i.e. working age benefits and a carer receiving Pension Credit and Carer Element is significant.  A carer aged 60 will receive £132.00 per week in UC and related benefits.  A carer aged 68 will receive £273.50 per week (2025/6 prices).  The differential is £134.82 per week or £7,011 per year per carer.  This means that, by raising the State Pension Age by one year, 26,000 unpaid carers are likely to have an additional year on working age benefits, losing out collectively on £182 million.[10]

2.13              This also has a significant gender impact. 63% of those in receipt of Carer’s Allowance are women aged 60 to 66 are women. The State Pension age rising by one year will mean nearly 16,400 carers who are women will miss out on income to the tune of £115 million a year by staying on Carer’s Allowance and working age benefits.

2.14              Research from the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) highlights unpaid carers as one of the most under-pensioned groups in the UK, with one of the lowest private pension incomes as a proportion of the population average, at 80%.[11]

Private pensions and saving

2.15              Research by Phoenix Insights shows that nearly half (47%) of carers have zero private pension savings at age 60 to 65. Among those aged 60 to 65 who do have pension savings, carers have 17% less than the UK average, representing a shortfall of nearly £37,000.[12]

3.              Policy context – particular policy changes that have impacted on people aged 60-66.

3.1              The role of social care and health is critical. If there is a shortage of care, or the NHS relies very heavily on families to provide care, this has a direct impact on unpaid carers’ ability to stay in the labour market.

3.2              Carers UK recommends that Government considers social care as a fundamental condition for unpaid carers to be able to work, in the way that childcare is essential for parents.

3.3              Carers UK has recommended to the Casey Commission that they consider how social care support helps carers to juggle work and care.

3.4              Carers UK recommends that Government develops a cross-Government strategy to supporting carers to remain in and return to work.  This should also seek to improve unpaid carers’ health and wellbeing, particularly at work.

3.5              Carers UK recommends that there is more widespread promotion and take up of Carer Confident, a benchmarking scheme, run by Employers for Carers.

What should the Mayfield Review taskforce prioritise in order to support labour market participation of this age group?

4.1              The Mayfield Review taskforce could undertake a brief tailored piece of working looking at support for unpaid carers within the labour market, taking evidence from Employers for Carers – Carers UK pioneering forum for employers who are leaders in carer friendly employment. Carers UK’s evidence suggests that this has benefits for carers as well as for business. Centrica plc has also measured the difference for their business and the economy, the latter they suggest could be as large as £8.2 billion.[13] 

4.2              Carers UK recommends there are more mid-life MOTs which could be repeated and re-tailored for workers in their 60s.This should include the probability of caring for someone, to ensure that non-carers thinking about this and what support might be available to stay in work.

4.3              Government has said that it is carrying out a review of Carer’s Leave, looking at how the existing right to one week of unpaid leave is being implemented and the merits of paid Carer’s Leave. Carers UK estimates that one week of paid Carer’s Leave would cost between £5.5 million to £32 million based on existing actual take-up rates within businesses that already have these policies.[14]

4.4              Carers UK recommends that Government promotes the benefits of paid Carer’s Leave, encourages adoption whilst moving to implement legislation for paid Carer’s Leave by 2028.

4.5              Carers UK recommends that all DWP services collect data which identifies whether someone is an unpaid carer. This is particularly important for any work-related services. A large scale practice based research project from the Institute of Employment Studies, found that for a carer to return to work whilst caring or change jobs, it is essential that they have a carer-friendly employment and tailored support.[15]

Awareness of State Pension age increase

How effectively has the Government communicated the forthcoming State Pension age increase from 66 to 67 to those directly affected?

To what extent do people aged 60 to 66 take up the support available already available to them?

5.1              Carers UK published new research, Thinking Ahead, for Carers Rights Day 2025. In this we looked at where carers went to for information and advice. The internet was the most common area for 42% of unpaid carers.

5.2              We also asked unpaid carers what they would have done differently. The main areas included; staying in work for longer, contributing more to pensions, getting information about benefits entitlements quicker and finding out about social care and other support quicker.

“Would not have given up paid employment! Financial future would have been more secure.”

“I would have continued to work longer, instead of retiring at 61 and getting a reduced pension.”

“I would not have given up my full time job. Potentially I will be mid 60s with no income if my husband dies.”

“Would have stayed in work part time rather than retire.”

“I would have tried to stay in my career for longer by reducing my hours – rather than resigning.”

Impact assessment

What do we know about the expected impact of the increase in the State Pension age from 66 to 67, for example, by income decile and protected characteristic?

6.1              As set out above, 26,000 unpaid carers in receipt of Carer’s Allowance will forgo £182 million of financial support as working age benefits are less generous.

6.2              Whilst caring is not a protected characteristic in itself, the Equality Act 2010 sets out provisions which prevent discrimination by association.

Mitigations

To what extent is there a case for mitigations for people affected by increases in their State Pension age?

6.3              Carers UK believes there are strong mitigations for unpaid carers who will be affected by increases in State Pension age given the evidence we have set out above.

6.4              The majority of unpaid carers do not have a choice about taking on the role. The main reason is because sufficient alternative care options were not available.[16] 

What form, if any, should this take – for example, early access to the State Pension (perhaps for specific groups), the means-tested benefits system, employment support programmes or labour market policies?

6.5              Carers UK recommends that carers are given an enhanced benefit payment at least 2 years before they retire to reduce the impact of poverty in retirement.   This could include early access to the State Pension for those who are providing significant amounts of care and who cannot work.

6.6              Carers UK would like to see a review of Carer’s Allowance overall, including a review of how support is provided to carers who are pensioners.

6.7              Carers UK also recommends that carers in receipt of Carer’s Allowance are given payments into Auto Enrolment into private pensions as if they were receiving an average wage.

6.8              Carers UK recommends that there is a review of the main carer’s benefit, Carer’s Allowance, to ensure that it’s fit for purpose. The benefit will be 50 years old in 2026.

December 2025