What is the economic evidence of unpaid care and for the support for unpaid carers?
Background
Adult social care plays a critical role in supporting the health, wellbeing, and independence of Scotland’s population, particularly among older adults and those with long-term conditions or disabilities.
As Scotland faces demographic shifts – notably an ageing population – the demand for adult social care services is expected to rise significantly. This trend presents both challenges and opportunities for the public sector, which has a vested interest in ensuring that care provision is sustainable, equitable, and economically efficient.
However, the economic value and social value of adult social care – which can help decision makers – is not fully understood, with existing datasets often being fragmented, inconsistent, or lacking in granularity. This can make it difficult to accurately quantify the full economic costs and benefits of care provision, the social value of care to service users and communities, assess the long-term value of different care models or understand the indirect economic impacts, such as on unpaid carers, workforce participation, and healthcare system pressures.
We, therefore, want to progress towards addressing these gaps in evidence base and understanding.
Next steps
Get in touch with [email protected]
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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Using the Earnings and Employees Study (2011) to analyse the association between unpaid caring and employment and earnings in NI.
Currently it is estimated that one-in-five adults in Northern Ireland (NI) have caring responsibilities. A total of 214,000 (12%) people were providing some form of unpaid care on Census Day 2011 in NI, compared with 185...
Funded by: ESRC
Lead research organisation: University of Ulster
Why might this be relevant?
Partially relevant as it focuses on the impact of caring on employment and income, but does not directly address economic evidence or support for unpaid carers.
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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 provides new evidence and thinking on care systems, paid and unpaid care, and diversity, but does not specifically address economic evidence or support for unpaid carers.
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Carers Assessment Support
**A difficult time to care** Across the UK our social care system is more stretched than ever with increased demand and decreasing budgets. The lack of capacity in the system is placing additional pressures on the unpa...
Funded by: Innovate UK
Lead research organisation: UPSTREAM OUTCOMES LIMITED
Why might this be relevant?
Partially relevant as it focuses on supporting the family carer community and simplifying the assessment process, but does not directly address economic evidence of unpaid care or support for unpaid carers.