The Carer Poverty Coalition, formed in February 2023, is made up of 100 national and local organisations.
Collectively, we will be campaigning to:
- End poverty amongst carers by advocating for policy change that adequately values, recognises and supports unpaid carers
- Reform the benefits system to better support carers financially in the short and long term
- Bring in better systems to support carers to continue with paid work
- Build awareness of carer poverty and the impact of the cost of living crisis on unpaid carers with Government, parliamentarians, decision makers and the general public
Every day across the UK, the work of unpaid carers helps hold society together – an invisible network of support, empathy and care for those who need it most.
However, providing care to family and friends limits their ability to earn a full income adds extra costs that they would not otherwise have. Too often, due to a lack of recognition and support, unpaid carers end up falling into poverty or find themselves in precarious financial positions as a result of their caring role. This is particularly true of carers who care for more than 35 hours a week and those who provide unpaid care over longer periods of time. Financial difficulties also have a significant impact on carers’ physical and mental health and often increase their own need for treatment, support and services in order to cope.
There is a clear moral as well as economic argument for supporting unpaid carers to live on a decent level of income and for supporting those able to continue with paid work whilst caring. Better support for carers to stay in work has clear benefits to the wider economy by improving productivity and reducing unemployment. The value of unpaid care was estimated at £530 million per day and £193 billion per year during the pandemic.[1]
This is a huge contribution to the NHS, social care and to society as a whole. Unpaid carers also provide a vital human connection as well as physical and emotional nourishment needed for our older people to thrive and enable people with disabilities and long-term illnesses to lead dignified, independent lives.
[1] Carers UK, Unseen and Undervalued, 2020
Member organisations
| Carers UK | MS Society |
| Age UK | Oxfam GB |
| Carers Trust | Rethink Mental Illness |
| Joseph Rowntree Foundation | We Care Campaign |
| Motor Neurone Disease Association |
| Action for Carers Surrey | Greenwich Carers Centre |
| Action for Family Carers | Hartlepool Carers |
| Adult Social Care Warriors | Help & Care |
| Age Scotland | Hospice UK |
| Barnet Carers Centre | Independent Age |
| Be Free Young Carers | Independent Food Aid Network |
| Bliss | Kingston Carers' Network |
| Brainwave | Lanarkshire Carers |
| Care4CarersClub | Leeds City Council |
| Carers First | The Leonardo Trust |
| Care for the Carers | Lewy Body Society |
| Carers in Hertfordshire | London Unemployed Strategies |
| Carers' Hub Lambeth | Marie Curie |
| Carers Leeds | Multiple System Atrophy Trust |
| Carers Lewisham | n-compass North West Ltd |
| Carers Network Westminster | Neath Port Talbot Council |
| Carers Northern Ireland | Newcastle Carers |
| Carers of Barking and Dagenham | North Lanarkshire Carers Together |
| Carers of West Lothian | North Tyneside Carers Centre |
| Carers Oxfordshire | Parkinson's UK |
| Carers Plus Yorkshire Ltd | Princess Royal Trust For Carers in Hampshire |
| Carers' Resource | Promas Caring for People CIC |
| Carers Scotland | Reading Welfare Rights |
| Carer Support Carlisle & Eden | Rett UK |
| Carers Support Centre - Bristol and South Gloucestershire | Richmond Carers Centre |
| Carers' Support East Kent | Salford City Council |
| Carers Support Merton | Sandwell Young Carers Project |
| Carers Support West Sussex | Sense |
| Carers Trust Crossroads West Wales | Sheffield Carers Centre |
| Carers Trust Mid Yorkshire | Sheffield Young Carers |
| Carers Voice Norfolk and Waveney | Shine Charity |
| Carers Wakefield & District | South Ayrshire Health & Social Care Partnership |
| Carers Wales | Spinal Injuries Association |
| Caring for Carers | Subco Trust |
| Caring Together | Suffolk Family Carers |
| City Health Care Partnership CIC | Swindon Carers Centre |
| Civil Service Pensioners' Alliance | The Anthony Seddon Centre |
| Cloverleaf Advocacy | The Care Collective |
| CommuniCare | The Carers Centre |
| Contact | The Relatives & Residents Association |
| Enfield Carers Centre | TuVida |
| Essex Carers Support | Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers |
| Falkirk District Association for Mental Health | Warwickshire Young Carers |
| FamilyCarersNet | Women’s Budget Group |
| Family Rights Group | Worcestershire Association of Carers |
| Forward Carers | York Carers Centre |
| Furness Carers | Young Lives vs Cancer |
| Gaddum | Z2K |
| GCMHG - Seacole House |
Latest updates
Carers UK backs Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s Essentials Guarantee campaign
Carers UK has joined up with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) and 90 other charities to call on party leaders…
Carer’s Leave Bill passes Committee Stage in the House of Lords
The Carer’s Leave Bill, a Private Member’s Bill brought forward by Wendy Chamberlain MP, has successfully passed Committee Stage in…
MLAs unite in call for new government strategy for unpaid carers
MLAs from the largest parties in Stormont make joint call for a new Carers Strategy for Northern Ireland.
Carers UK responds to Government’s adult social care reform package
Today the Department for Health and Social Care has published its implementation paper Next Steps to Put People at the…
Got a question about caring?
Every day we hear from people who need help with looking after a friend or family member
Become a member for free
Joining Carers UK is free and takes just a few minutes.