Cost of caring to be examined

A year long study on the extra financial costs faced by the UK’s six million carers was launched by Carers UK today.

The investigation, A Fair Deal for Carers, will look at carers’ finances and how caring has affected their employment and income.

The investigation plans to ask carers to help to set the agenda for improvement themselves and determine what factors would better their situations.

The charity announced the plans at their AGM in London where the minister for pensions reform, James Purnell MP, gave a speech.

Previous research by the charity has indicated that carers suffer a heavy financial burden due to their role, with a third struggling to pay utility bills and one in five cutting back on food to make ends meet.

A questionnaire on the Carers’ UK website as a part of the investigation and the charity is calling on carers to go online and complete it.