This final look at the 2021 census focuses on some of the factors that determine an individual’s life chances. Other than work and social class, three of those factors are education, disability and caring responsibilities.
A final reminder of the ground rules:
- The figures will be counted at council level (the 22 unitary authorities). There are probably more interesting results at a local level/ward level, but that’s not for me to do. You can look these up yourselves using the ONS’s interactive map.
- Percentages are rounded to the nearest decimal place and changes are percentage point increases or decreases (unless stated otherwise).
- 2021 will be compared to both the 2011 and 2001 censuses unless comparable figures are unavailable (i.e. things were counted differently in 2021 compared to previous years) or I couldn’t find the data for whatever reason. In some instances, there won’t be a comparison because it’s a new category.
- Any conclusions are educated guesses rather than hard/academically rigorous ones.
First of all a note: the ONS uses age-standardised proportions to work out their published figures which take into account population changes and age structures. I’ve used raw percentages and non-age standardised figures.
What’s the overall national picture?
Similarly to life-limiting disabilities, the proportion of the population who provide unpaid care fell by 2.1% since 2011.
Nonetheless, 10% of the population – 311,000 people – provide some level of unpaid care. Using the ONS’s age-standardised proportions this rises to 10.5%, which is higher than England (8.9%).
Roughly a third of unpaid carers – a little under 107,000 people – said they provide more than 50 hours of care a week. This proportion hasn’t changed since 2011.
What are the standout findings for individual councils?
Unpaid care rates were fairly even across all council areas with no remarkable differences. Almost every local authority lies within a range of 9.5-11%.
The only exceptional figures were a proportionally lower share of unpaid carers in Cardiff (8.0%) and a proportionally higher share in Neath Port Talbot (11.8%).
What may be the reasons behind the changes (if applicable)?
It’s no surprise that areas with proportionally older populations and higher proportions of disabled people have noticeably higher unpaid carer rates.
What would probably be more interesting here is an age breakdown of the carers themselves. It also suggests that many households in Wales may be struggling to access full-time care for loved ones from local authorities or other external care providers.
Are there any public policy implications?
Unpaid carers are unsung heroes who often get little support. Many may be children or have to deal with health issues themselves.
The upbeat interpretation would be that Wales is a caring society and that there’s a lot of cross-generational care within families.
That would let those in power off the hook though. Nobody should be left to provide extensive unpaid care without support even if unpaid care is unavoidable in many circumstances.
