Most adults care for relatives by age 70

More than half of British adults will look
after a relative or friend at some point in their lives, according
to new research.

Two-thirds of women and more than
half of men will provide 20 or more hours a week of care before the
age of 75, according to the findings. Women make up the largest
number of informal carers. Six out of ten people are likely to have
looked after someone in their own household by the time they are
70.

The
study of more than 9,000 adults reveals that most informal carers
take on the role between their mid-30s and mid-50s, although a
significant number are older, in their mid-50s to
mid-70s.

Diana
Whitworth, chief executive of Carers UK, said that anyone can
become a carer, but that unless support and recognition for carers
improved many people would be unable or unwilling to take on the
responsibility. If that happened, an impossible strain would be put
on the NHS and social services, she warned.

–
Transitions to Informal Care in Great Britain During the
1990s from: http://press.psprings.co.uk/jech/august/jech-00545.pdf