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Unpaid caring and resources
The incidence of unpaid caring is predicted to progressively increase as a result of worldwide demographic trends. Thus according to the Global Coalition on Aging, by 2050, those aged sixty-five and over are expected to double to 1.5 billion while the number of people with dementia is predicted to rise by more than 200 per cent.
Much corresponding attention has been given to the ‘burdens’ experienced by unpaid carers as a result of their role such as physical and mental strain and financial sacrifice. These burdens have been found to be particularly apparent for those involved in the care of people with dementia and can even persist following their transition to long term care. Follow this link to find out more:
However, research into the experience of unpaid caring has often adopted individualised and psychological approaches which fail to fully recognise the impact of resources and contextual factors more generally on these experiences. These can relate to the national and international settings in which caring takes place and the varying demographic, cultural and policy contexts found within these settings as well as the differing availability of resources to support carers in their role. For example, the International Alliance of Carer Organisations has found a great deal of disparity in the incidence of unpaid caring around the world with poorer countries such as India having a much greater proportion of unpaid carers than more wealthy counterparts.
Significant disparities are also apparent in the incidence and experience of caring within the UK with official statistics showing that older and poorer sections of the population are the groups most likely to be involved in demanding co-resident caring roles and to spend the most hours caring. In spite of this, research on the issue of age and caring has often focussed on the experiences of carers aged under 18 even though at less than 200,000 in number, they form a tiny fraction of the overall UK unpaid carer population of at least 6.5 million. The issue of socio-economic status and caring has been similarly neglected with research tending to be characterised by a ‘classless’ analysis, neglecting the way in which access to cultural and material resources can help to ease the demands of this caring. Follow this link to find out more:
Elaine Argyle
Senior Research Fellow
The University of Nottingham
Elaine Argyle is a Senior Research Fellow at The University of Nottingham where she has worked since 2012. Prior to this, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Bradford Dementia Group after obtaining a PhD and an ESRC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Social Gerontology at the University of Sheffield. She is also a dually registered mental health professional (RMN, Dip SW) and has many years experience of working with people with dementia in these capacities.
