The Impact of Caring on Carers:
Caring can impact all aspects of carers' lives. These statistics from the Carers UK State of Caring reports give a snapshot of the wide variety of issues facing carers.
Juggling caring with day-to-day responsibilities
Carers are stretched to the limit trying to juggle everything. The State of Caring 2025 reports found that 1.7 million people in the UK are providing 50 or more hours of care per week. . Over half (52%) of carers
said the number of hours they spent caring
increased between 2024 and 2025.
Education and Career
Many carers are forced to make difficult career choices. The State of Caring 2025 report highlights that balancing a career with care is reaching an unsustainable breaking point. Among working carers, 44% have had to reduce their working hours, and 21% have taken a lower-paid or more junior role just to cope. Every single day, approximately 600 people leave the UK workforce entirely to become full-time unpaid carers.
Friendship and Relationships
Caring can be isolating. Over three-quarters of carers (79%) feel stressed or anxious, and half (50%) feel lonely. Many carers are cutting back on social connections—a key lifeline for their well-being. A significant number of carers (60%) have reduced the time they spend seeing family and friends.
Me Time
Caring can be isolating. Over three-quarters of carers (79%) feel stressed or anxious, and half (50%) feel lonely. Many carers are cutting back on social connections—a key lifeline for their well-being. A significant number of carers (60%) have reduced the time they spend seeing family and friends.r.
Access to support and services
A widespread lack of support is severely damaging carers' wellbeing. According to the State of Caring 2023 report, nearly three-quarters of carers (73%) with bad or very bad mental health continue to provide care, despite feeling at breaking point. The reports also highlight that 57% of carers experience long wait times for support, and 51% say that services were not available when they needed them.
Managing Stress and Poor Health
The impact on carers' mental and physical health is significant and growing. The State of Caring 2024 survey found a growing mental health crisis, with over a third of carers (35%) reporting poor or very bad mental health—a notable increase from the 27% figure in the previous year.
Similarly, 54% of carers said their physical health had suffered, with 22% reporting that caring had caused them injuries.
Money worries
Financial hardship is a major concern for many carers. The State of Caring 2023 report revealed that 45% of carers receiving Carer's Allowance were struggling to make ends meet, a significant increase from 39% the previous year. Furthermore, 46% of those receiving Carer's Allowance are cutting back on essentials like food and heating.
How we are addressing these needs?
At Carers' Hub Lambeth we focus on four key objectives to help us make life better for carers in Lambeth. All of our projects and services are designed to address at least one of these areas. Read below to find out more or get in touch with one of the team.
Improve wellbeing
Caring for a loved one, family member, friend or neighbour, can have a significant impact on all aspects of a carer's life. Through peer support groups and one-to-one appointments, our dedicated and passionate team work with carers aged 5 and up to help overcome a range of challenges, including: managing at home; finances; caring with confidence; education and employment; physical health; and emotional wellbeing.
Increase connections
There’s a lot of support on offer in Lambeth, but these things can be difficult to find. We’re here to fill those gaps. We provide information on training courses, local services and help carers build connections with each other and their community. We also help professionals working with carers to connect with one another, through our Carers Collaborative Network.
Raise awareness
We believe that caring is everybody’s business. We work hard to raise awareness through outreach in the local community, social media and through our partnerships. Our work enables carers and our partners working in Lambeth to have a meaningful input to the development of a carers strategy in the borough.
Influence
We believe that the development of local policy, practice and services that affect carers should take carers’ experiences into account. For this reason, we raise awareness of carers, influencing local policy through community engagement activities. We play a key role in the development and delivery of the Lambeth Carers' Strategy.
Learn more about how you can support Lambeth Carers
As a small independent charity, we rely on local partnerships, grants and donations to run our service. If you'd like to support our work, visit this webpage