Unpaid family carers are experiencing unprecedented financial hardship with many now forced to use food banks, new research reveals.

A new survey of over 2,600 carers from across the UK revealed that 41% have had to give up paid work altogether to care for a sick or disabled relative. A further 23% reported having reduced the number of paid hours they work because of their caring role.

Undertaken by Carers Trust, the UK infrastructure charity for local care organisations, the survey found that one in seven (14%) carers have had to use a food bank and almost two thirds (63%) are worried about being able to afford energy bills.

Responding to a question about what essential costs they would no longer be able to afford, over half of the respondents (53%) said transport, almost two thirds (63%) said energy bills and over one third (34%) said rent or mortgage costs.

Responding to the findings, Carers Trust’s CEO Kirsty McHugh called on the Government to raise the Carer’s Allowance ‘urgently’.

‘Our nation’s health and social care system relies on the hard work of millions of unpaid family carers. However, the double whammy of lack of financial support and struggling local services means that millions of unpaid family carers are being pushed into dire poverty,’ she said.

‘With little ability to work, unpaid carers simply cannot boost their earnings to meet the cost-of-living crisis. Yet they need to keep the heating on and equipment running to keep their sick and disabled relatives warm and safe. The recent Autumn Statement simply did not recognise the extra cost of being an unpaid carer. We therefore need to raise Carer’s Allowance urgently and to add it to the list of benefits qualifying for the additional £900 cost-of-living support payment.

‘We also need Government to make good on its long awaited promise to publish a proper strategy for unpaid carers. As a country we’re relying on unpaid carers to keep the health and care system afloat. The least we can do in return is ensure they get a fair deal in return.’

Cllr David Fothergill, chairman of the Local Government Association’s (LGA) Community Wellbeing Board, described the Carers Trust’s findings as ‘hugely troubling.’

‘Our care system simply could not survive without the contribution of unpaid carers, who provide vital support for thousands of loved ones every day,’ he said.

‘Councils fully recognise their crucial role and assess and support hundreds of thousands of carers every year, but could do even more with the right resources.

‘Every part of the care and support sector is under intense pressure due to the current crisis and councils are doing all they can to support unpaid carers and those they care for through this.

‘The Government must ensure that unpaid carers are supported through the cost-of-living crisis and work with councils to develop long-term solution for the funding of social care.’ Commenting on the report, Cathie Williams, chief executive of ADASS, said:

‘These findings make for worrying reading, but are all too familiar. Unpaid carers often face more financial strain than the general population, and this winter is set to be even tougher on those drawing on support and their carers. Our own poll of Adult Social Services Directors showed that 3 in 4 had seen an increase in people who could not afford to pay their care fees.

‘We support recommendations in Carers Trust’s report calling for more funding and support for unpaid carers, in order to prevent carer breakdown and maintain the health and social care sector. With almost two thirds (64%) of unpaid carers giving up or reducing work hours, it is clear that people at the heart of social care, and the UK’s workforce as a whole, stand to benefit from a sustainable funding settlement for unpaid carers. We all need to live, work and care and as a country, in the longer term, we will need to address proper paid leave rights for caring in the same way as we have parental leave.’