Caring for another person can be incredibly rewarding, but it can also place significant demands on the person providing that care. New figures from the Survey of Adult Carers in England 2025 to 2026 highlight just how much caring can affect people’s health, wellbeing and everyday lives.
The national survey looks at the experiences of informal, unpaid carers aged 18 and over who care for another adult and are known to their local authority. Its latest findings highlight the pressures many carers are facing and, in particular, how difficult some find it to look after themselves while supporting somebody else.
Just 46% of carers said they were able to look after themselves well enough, including getting enough sleep and eating well, while almost one in five, 19.9%, said they were neglecting themselves. It is a reminder of how easily carers’ own needs can move further down the list when someone else depends on their support.
That pressure is also showing up in people’s health. Almost four in five carers, 79.4%, reported tiredness as a result of caring, while 64.8% experienced general feelings of stress. Disturbed sleep and feelings of depression were also commonly reported, and a quarter of carers, 25.7%, said they had developed their own health condition as a result of caring.
The impact reaches far beyond health
Health and wellbeing are only part of the picture. Caring can influence people’s relationships, work, finances and ability to spend time doing the things that matter to them.
Only 31% of carers said they had as much social contact as they wanted, with many reporting that they did not have enough contact or felt socially isolated. For many, that sits alongside an enormous commitment of time, with more than a third, 34.7%, spending 100 hours or more each week caring for someone.
The impact can also be financial. 46.2% said caring had caused them financial difficulties either to some extent or a lot during the previous 12 months, while 19.5% said they were not in paid employment because of their caring responsibilities.
Caring can shape almost every part of someone’s life. The effect is not limited to the time spent providing care itself. It can influence someone’s ability to work, maintain relationships, stay socially connected and make time for their own needs.
Supporting people who care
With so many carers experiencing pressures across different areas of their lives, having access to the right support matters. Yet just 33.3% of unpaid carers said they felt encouraged and supported in their caring role, while 20.9% said they had no encouragement or support.
Support will look different for different people. It might mean practical advice, financial help, opportunities for respite, greater social connection or support with health and wellbeing. What matters is recognising that the person providing care has needs of their own too, and that those needs should not only be addressed once someone reaches crisis point.
Supporting the people behind care
The latest figures give us a clearer picture not only of the contribution unpaid carers make every day, but also of what that contribution can ask of them in return.
Supporting carers cannot simply be about helping them continue caring. It also has to mean recognising their own needs, helping them protect their health and wellbeing, and making sure they know where to turn when they need support.
While the experiences of unpaid carers and people working professionally in care are different, there is a wider message that applies across social care: care depends on people, and the wellbeing of those providing it matters.
That same thinking sits behind Flourish Wellbeing, our wellbeing platform included free for Click Learning users. It provides personalised insights, practical tools and guidance across mental, physical and everyday wellbeing – from sleep and nutrition to finances, relationships and fitness – helping people better understand and support their own wellbeing.
At Flourish, we believe great care starts with supporting the people behind it – helping people feel valued, connected and supported in their own wellbeing.
