With an estimated 3.7 million working carers in England and Wales, a growing number of people are playing a dual role in balancing their jobs with their caring responsibilities. This came into sharp focus in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted working lives, exposing the support needs of those who require constant care.

Member tool: CIPD Buddy BETA
Experiment with AI to find answers on this topic with our prototype. Login to explore CIPD Buddy

This report, commissioned by the CIPD in the early days of the pandemic and written by the University of Sheffield, examines how working carers combine their caring responsibilities with paid employment, and the difference employers can make by supporting them. Here, we define a carer as someone who helps or looks after a family member or friend who needs care and support as a result of old age, physical illness, disability, mental health problems or addiction.

While this report is based on UK research, the broader implications should be of interest wherever you are based. 

Explore the research insights

Download the full report to examine the in-depth findings and recommendations to help you lay the foundations for a carer-friendly workplace.

Supporting working carers

Download the report
PDF document 2.3 MB

About this research

Under the Sustainable Care: Connecting people and systems programme, the CIPD and University of Sheffield conducted a survey of 970 unpaid carers in employment – the first representative survey of working carers in England and Wales.

The report addresses three research questions:

  1. What are the challenges working carers face?
  2. What forms of support do employers provide to working carers, and how does this vary across sectors and types of organisation?
  3. How do these forms of support benefit working carers and the organisations for which they work?

Some of the key findings include:

  • Carers struggle to balance their caring responsibilities with their work commitments. The majority of those surveyed provide care in addition to full-time paid work.
  • Employers can do more to support carers in the workplace. Only two-fifths of working carers believed their employer was carer-friendly, with more than a quarter failing to discuss their caring role with anyone at their workplace, most commonly because they believed nothing would change if they did.
  • Providing carers with support benefits both carer and employer – namely, by improving the wellbeing of employees, translating to reduced absenteeism and better retention for the business.

In addition to the research report, we recommend employers follow our supplementary guidance to put in place proper, sustained support for working carers going forward.

Please note, the Carer’s Leave Act 2023 came into force on 4 December 2023 and makes provisions for employees who balance work with caring responsibilities. Carers are now entitled to at least one week’s unpaid leave within any 12-month period, to care for, or arrange care for, a dependant with long-term care needs. This is a day one employment right. More information can be found in our guide.  

Explore our related content

Case study

Supporting working carers: Nationwide

Case study on the impact of Nationwide’s carer-friendly practices

More on this topic

Factsheet
Wellbeing at work

Understand the links between work, health and wellbeing, and the role of stakeholders in adopting an organisational approach to employee wellbeing

For Members
Guide
How people professionals can look after their own mental health

Advice on how to manage your wellbeing when working in HR

Tools
Review your health and wellbeing approach

Use our quiz to assess your wellbeing programme to make the most of an effective wellbeing offering

Reports

More reports

Report
Resourcing and talent planning report

Trend analysis and benchmarking data on recruitment, retention and talent management to inform HR and employers on practice considerations and decision-making

Report
How employers are tackling bullying and harassment at work

Research on whether employers are doing enough to prevent and manage conflict in the workplace

Report
People-powered innovation

The CIPD examines the state of innovation in the UK and its connection with productivity to inform policy-making and investment

Report
Labour Market Outlook

Read our latest Labour Market Outlook report for analysis on employers’ recruitment, redundancy and pay intentions

All Reports