Women quitting jobs to care for elderly relatives

♦ Women could be driven out of professional occupations by the growing burden of caring for elderly relatives, a think-tank has warned.

The Social Market Foundation’s report showed 7.6million people in the UK provide unpaid care for family members, 1 million more than in 2005.

Without that army of informal carers – most of them women – the social care system would collapse, the foundation said. It called on politicians and employers to talk more honestly about the role of family carers, and to do more to help them combine work and care.

Most of the growth in the number of carers has been women starting to look after older relatives. The foundation calculated 16.5per cent of women provide family care, up from 14.9per cent in 2005. The number of women carers has risen from 3.75million to 4.45million, an increase of 700,000.

Meanwhile, 12.4 per cent of men provide family care, up from 12per cent in 2005. The number of men providing family care has risen from 2.82million to 3.19million, a rise of 364,000. The time that carers typically spend on care is rising, with 28per cent of carers devoting more than 20 hours a week in 2015 – up from 24per cent in 2005.

Professional women now make up the biggest occupational group of working carers. But the growing burden of care means that without better support for family carers, significant numbers could end up being driven out of the professional and managerial occupations, potentially reversing recent trends, the foundation said.