More than one in four Sandwich Carers Report Symptoms of Mental ill-health

International Women’s Day celebrates women but also highlights inequalities. 58% of unpaid Carers are women and, without them, the NHS would face an extra £77 billion cost per year.

According to Carers UK, women are more likely to be providing ‘round the clock’ care, and 60% of these women are caring for over 50 hours a week. Women are more likely to have given up work or reduced working hours to provide care to someone who depends on their support.

Sandwich Carers
There are 1.25 million sandwich Carers in the UK¹. These are people caring for an older relative as well as bringing up one or more children aged under 16 at the same time. Most (68% – 850,743) are women.

This short video shows a snapshot of what it’s like being a sandwich Carer. Almost 27% of sandwich carers show symptoms of mental ill-health while caring for both sick, disabled or older relatives and children. When the amount of care given increases, so does the frequency of mental ill-health.

More than 33% of sandwich carers providing at least 20 hours of adult care per week report symptoms of mental ill-health, compared with 23% of those providing fewer than five hours each week.

The stresses and the strains of the pandemic has added more pressure on both sides of women’s caring role. Sandwich Carers are at risk of cracking under the pressure of caring, please reach out to Birmingham Carers Hub for a whole range of support. Call 0333 006 9711 or email info@birminghamcarershub.org.uk to speak to an advisor.

¹ https://www.ageuk.org.uk/contentassets/c3dac0771e614672b363c5fe7e6f826e/breaking-point-age-uk.pdf