Carers Week is an annual awareness week which recognises the vital contribution made by people caring unpaid for family members or friends who have a disability, illness, or mental health condition, or who need extra help as they grow older.
However unpaid caregiving is not treated as a task or job, but a moral value or obligation that is instilled in children growing up in many South Asian households in the UK.
Therefore, caregiving by family or friends among the diaspora rests largely on trusts and close networks and can vary from a small gesture to nursing and taking care of the overall well-being including chores on a daily basis.
New research released for Carers Week found that half of the UK population have had some experience of providing unpaid care to an older or disabled or ill relative or friend. Nearly three-quarters of people with experience in caring hadn’t identified themselves as unpaid carers – approximately 19 million across the UK. Nearly one-third of people said that providing unpaid care had a negative impact on their health and well-being – approximately 8 million people across the UK. The seven charities supporting Carers Week in 2023 – Carers UK, Age UK, Carers Trust, Motor Neurone Disease Association, Oxfam GB, Rethink Mental Illness, and The Lewy Body Society – are calling for the Government to deliver cross-UK Government action to support unpaid carers.
In a report published in The Guardian in January, it was said that unpaid carers have told the Guardian they have lost friendships, gone through marriage breakdowns, been hospitalised and even contemplated suicide because of the pressures of caring for a loved one with limited help. According to the 2021 census data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), there were approximately 4.7 million unpaid carers in England and approximately 310,000 unpaid carers in Wales. Out of these approximately 5 million unpaid carers, 553,224 are from ethnic minority communities in England and out of that, Indians are the largest, forming 2.2% of all carers.
In Scotland, the number of carers is estimated to be around 700,000 to 800,000 from 2019 data. Carers UK estimated in June 2020 that an additional 4.5 million people had become unpaid carers since the pandemic began. They said that 2.8 million people who had started caring since the outbreak were also balancing paid work and care.
London has the highest number of ethnic minority unpaid carers, making them one in three. 47,034 such carers are from the Indian community, making it the largest population again. They are also the largest number of people from working age group and have poor health.
Virendra Sharma MP pledges to raise awareness
Virendra Sharma MP has pledged to support unpaid carers across Ealing Southall this Carers Week, which took place this year from 5-11 June 2023. Mr Sharma attended an event in Parliament to mark Carers Week and met with unpaid carers to hear about and better understand their experiences of caring, how carers could be better identified, and what support they now need. He said, “Unpaid carers in Ealing Southall provide crucial support to friends and family members, often without any time out for themselves. The value of the support they provide is staggering - the equivalent of a second NHS. It is important that their efforts are recognised and that they are given the support they need to care safely and well for their loved ones. I am supporting Carers Week 2023 to ensure unpaid carers in Ealing Southall are connected to the support they need and get the breaks they deserve. I back the call for more Government action in support of unpaid carers.”
Scotland saw an unprecedented gathering of MSPs at the Scottish Parliament for Carers Week, led by the First Minister, Humza Yousaf. It was an opportunity to raise the issues facing unpaid carers.
Nearly 16,000 of older Asian carers suffer from a form of disability
Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK told us, “The 2021 Census tells us that there are more than 360,000 Asian carers in England and Wales, equivalent to 1 in 15 Asian people, almost 40,000 of whom are aged 65 or older. Many will be struggling with their own health conditions – in fact, nearly 16,000 of these older Asian carers have a disability themselves – while valiantly looking after their loved ones. Caring is an extraordinary experience that brings many rewards, but it is also hard work. There is a lot to cope with and, although most older carers take on their responsibilities willingly, we mustn’t expect them to manage without support. Yet all too often that’s the reality, with the whole social care system relying on the goodwill and unpaid labour of millions of dedicated families and friends. Many carers go without proper breaks, unable to take the time to look after themselves and risking collapse under pressure, which would leave both them and the person they love in a crisis situation. With the next General Election approaching, we want politicians on all sides to look afresh at what they are prepared to do to support this much-overlooked army of valuable citizens in our communities.”
Carers need more support from the system to have their life back
According to a first-person account published by carersweek.org in association with Age UK, a carer named Rasila wrote, “I’m a carer for my younger sister who has an advanced stage of dementia. She’s at the end of life now and is under the care of a palliative team. I had to give up my full-time job working for American Express to take on board caring for my sister. Prior to this, I was also a carer for my elderly parents. Caring for my parents was manageable alongside my full-time job, but with my sister, her condition deteriorated so rapidly that it wasn’t possible to carry on with my job.
“This completely changed my world. I suddenly didn’t have the money coming in. I was not even a pensionable age at the time, so I had to dig into my savings to pay for my mortgage.
It’s changed me as a person too. As a career-minded person, I was very strong, tough. I now still have to be assertive but in a different way. I have to be a calmer person. I remember meeting my friends from my old workplace and they just said, “everything in you has changed.”
“My sister needs a hoist now as she cannot stand. Finally, after nearly two years of waiting we got trained, but my sister's condition has deteriorated so much that we have now been instructed against hoisting her. As she is now in a very high-risk category it has added on additional burden and stress on myself.
“Sometimes I just want my own space to think. But I don’t have that. I can't even think about going out for dinner or lunch, or meeting with friends. Because I know that something will come up and I’ll have to cancel it.
“There’s nothing that makes things better. It’s constant. If you get a call, you’ve got to deal with it. Visits to the GP surgery, hospital stays. There’s no time for me.
“I used to love reading and used to love going to the library, going for walks. It’s all gone. I have no life of my own. My sister is constantly in my mind. I need more support from the system to have some sort of my life back.”
Ethnic minority carers are more likely to be worried about their finances
Emily Holzhausen OBE, Carers UK Director of Policy and Public Affairs told Asian Voice, “Unpaid carers’ advice to others who are caring is that the most important thing you can do is to ensure that you get the support you need early because it helps support your health, well-being and finances. This is particularly true from carers from ethnic minorities who say that this helps to care for longer. Carers UK’s research has also found that carers from ethnic minorities are more likely to be worried about their finances. But people providing unpaid care are not always routinely recognised or supported and that’s particularly true of carers from ethnic minorities where assumptions can be made about communities providing more care. Communities can definitely help identify unpaid carers and signposts to support them. Not everyone wants to call themselves a carer and they don’t have to in order to get support. But people do need to recognise what they do.”
Speaking to the newsweekly, Alex Massey, the Motor Neurone Disease Association’s Head of Campaigning, Policy & Public Affairs said, “It is no exaggeration to talk of a crisis in caring. Our latest research discovered that unpaid carers of people living with motor neurone disease (MND) face a wide range of challenges which can affect their physical and mental health and well-being. We found that only a quarter of MND carers have received or are receiving a carer’s assessment – to which they are legally entitled. This potentially leaves many without access to vital support and our Support MND Carers campaign is calling on this to change.” Melody Njovu cared for her husband Steve who was diagnosed with MND in 2020. “He only wanted me to care for him, and as a wife, I had a duty to care for him but I needed help otherwise I was going to shut down without help. I had to “fight” him to get help from carers. I said to him that I am here for you Steve but I need help.”
Estimated the value of unpaid care is equivalent to a second NHS
The YouGov research, using a poll of 4,000 adults across the UK, found 50 per cent of the population has had some sort of experience of providing unpaid care, either now (20 per cent of the population) or in the past (30 per cent). Of these people, a staggering 73 per cent had not identified as unpaid carers, translating to a staggering 19 million people. Women are far more likely to care earlier and have a 50:50 chance of doing so by the time they are 46, men have the same likelihood by the time they are 57 – 11 years later. Amanda Pritchard, Chief Executive of NHS England tweeted: “Unpaid carers are essential partners for the NHS, whose incredible contributions each and every day we should all recognise and value. Thank you, especially to my NHS colleagues who also care for someone, for all that you do.”
Mayor announces £750,000 new funding to support migrant workers
While unpaid carers continue to fight for their rights, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan announced more than £750,000 in additional funding to boost support for migrants in London and tackle the exploitation of migrant workers following a ‘shocking’ report which uncovered widespread abuse.
The new report, commissioned by City Hall, uncovers shocking levels of bullying, racially motivated harassment, and the exploitation of migrants in the workplace consistent with modern slavery. This investment by the Mayor will support migrants in London with independent immigration advice and support services to help ensure they can access their rights, including protection from employment rights violations and exploitation.
The Mayor of London said, “This report commissioned by City Hall has uncovered shocking evidence of exploitation of migrant workers across London – consistent with modern slavery. Migrants being subject to long hours with no pay and abuse such as racial slurs are the opposite of everything our city stands for. It is abundantly clear from the report that migrant Londoners also face too many barriers to access the advice and support they desperately need to safeguard them from exploitation and help them to work in dignity.
“That’s why today I’ve announced a £750,000 investment to extend City Hall’s funding to provide specialist services to ensure the most vulnerable migrant Londoners can access their rights and the support they need. I continue to urge the government to take the urgent action needed to address these regular employment rights violations and the wider exploitation of migrants, so we can build a fairer London for everyone.”
