Census 2021 to ask more about caring
Census 2021 asks more about caring
We’re pleased to see that the Census which takes place in March this year, will be asking a little more about the amount of caring carers do. Potentially more could have been asked too, but it’s a step in the right direction.
The Census is a hugely valuable tool for statutory bodies and other organisations that support carers; with the information used to plan and develop services. It reveals numbers of carers, broken down by area, and further helpful information such as age, as well as how much caring they do.
Last time, in 2011, the carer question was:
Do you look after, or give any help or support to family members, friends, neighbours or others because of either:
long-term physical or mental ill-health /disability?
problems related to old age?
Do not count anything you do as part of your paid employment.
- No
- Yes, 1 – 19 hours a week
- Yes, 20 – 49 hours a week
- Yes, 50 or more hours a week
2021’s question
This time, the terminology has changed to lose the word ‘disability’, and the question you’ll be asked is:
Do you look after, or give any help or support to anyone because they have long-term physical mental health condition, or illness, or problems related to old age (exclude anything you do as part of your paid employment):
- No
- Yes 9 hours a week or less
- Yes 10-19 hours a week
- Yes 20-34 hours per week
- Yes 35-49 per week
- Yes 50 or more per week
We look forward to hearing more about how the government plans to develop services in light of these answers.