Carers Census: results 2018 to 2019

Key Points

The Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 took effect on 1^st April 2018. The Act puts in place a system of carers’ rights designed to improve consistency of support and prevent problems in order to help sustain caring relationships and protect carers’ health and well-being. The Act also introduces the right to an Adult Carer Support Plan or Young Carer Statement based on each carer’s personal outcomes and needs for support. The data reported here relates to carers being supported by local services during the first year following the implementation of the Act.

• This is the first publication of the Carers Census data. Many data providers were in the midst of designing new systems to collect and record this information when the data was due to be submitted. As a result, the figures presented in this publication are incomplete. Caution should be used when interpreting the results.
• There were 23,180 individual carers being supported by local services across Scotland identified through the Carers Census.
• There was a notable deprivation effect for young carers supported by local services. 14% of young carers lived in the most deprived SIMD decile, while 4% lived in the least deprived SIMD decile.
• 62% of adult carers supported by local services provided an average of 50+ hours of care per week. The majority of young carers supported by local services (65%) provided up to 19 hours of care per week on average.
• The most commonly reported impact of providing unpaid care was on carers’ emotional well-being. Where this information was available, around 4 in 5 carers experienced an impact on their emotional well-being due to their caring role.
• Based on records where information on Adult Carer Support Plans (ACSPs) and Young Carer Statements (YCSs) were available; 71% of carers supported by local services had a complete ACSP or YCS in place, while 11% declined to have an ACSP or YCS.  
• Based on records where information on support provided to carers was available; the most common form of support provided to carers was advice and information. For young carers supported by local services, around 3 in 5 were provided with counselling or emotional support.