What are the experiences of people who provide unpaid care and how do these vary by demographic groups, protected characteristics, type of caring relationship, intensity of caring, and geography?
Background
Understanding how people experience social care – either as people accessing or providing care and support – informs our evidence of what is working well for people, where there are challenges, and what factors influence positive and negative experiences. This evidence will guide future improvements and help us understand how existing policies, standards and outcomes are being put into practice. Survey data, qualitative research and mixed methods can all contribute to the improvement of social care experience data.
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Source
This question was published as part of the set of ARIs in this document:
Social Care Analytical Unit Areas of Research Interest 2026 2029 published 25 March 2026
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Related UKRI funded projects
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Building the care skill set of unpaid carers
In the United Kingdom, there are currently around 13.6 million unpaid family carers looking after older, ill and/or disabled adults. This number increases by 6000 people daily and over 2 million people yearly. People a...
Funded by: ISCF
Lead research organisation: King's College London
Why might this be relevant?
Partially relevant as it focuses on building the care skill set of unpaid carers, but does not address variations by demographic groups, protected characteristics, etc.
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Extending our understanding of informal care provision in mid-life in the UK by linking qualitative and quantitative data in the NCDS
The provision of informal care in mid-life is an issue of critical policy importance in the context of an ageing population. Much of the previous literature in this area has mapped the patterns of informal care provision...
Funded by: ESRC
Lead research organisation: University of Southampton
Why might this be relevant?
Fully relevant as it extends understanding of informal care provision in mid-life in the UK and addresses variations by demographic groups, intensity of caring, etc.
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Centre for Care
The Centre for Care is a collaboration between the universities of Sheffield, Birmingham, Kent and Oxford, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, the Office for National Statistics, Carers UK, the National...
Funded by: ESRC
Lead research organisation: University of Sheffield
Why might this be relevant?
Partially relevant as it focuses on various aspects of care, but does not specifically address experiences of people providing unpaid care and variations by demographic groups, etc.