Understanding the characteristics of unpaid carers living in financial hardship: risks and vulnerabilities

Publication type

Journal Article

Series Number

Authors

Publication date

August 1, 2025

Summary:

Providing care for longer hours is associated with detrimental effects on carers’ employment and earnings. However, very little is known about carer financial hardship, especially from an intersectional perspective. This study makes use of the UK Household Longitudinal Study to investigate associations between providing care and poverty. Findings show that unpaid carers are more likely to face poverty than non-carers and that this gap has become wider over time. Employment and older age seem to be protective characteristics associated with a lower likelihood of poverty. These findings support the recognition of the many challenges faced by unpaid carers.

Published in

International Journal of Care and Caring

Volume and page numbers

Volume: 9 , p.434 -452

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1332/23978821Y2025D000000104

ISSN

23978821

Subjects

Notes

Open Access

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

#588738

News

Latest findings, new research

Publications search

Search all research by subject and author

Podcasts

Researchers discuss their findings and what they mean for society

Projects

Background and context, methods and data, aims and outputs

Events

Conferences, seminars and workshops

Survey methodology

Specialist research, practice and study

Taking the long view

ISER's annual report

Themes

Key research themes and areas of interest