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CHAPTER EIGHT: CONCLUSIONS
8.1 Previous research has indicated that due to demographic changes, the need for informal care is set to increase 17. There has also been shown to be a gap between the increase in demand for carers and the expectation of people to become unpaid carers in the future. One of the recommendations in the Care 21 report was that the Carer's Strategy should continue to be updated in incorporate the impact of demographic and social change and to plan the resourcing of future need. The results of the current research indicate that there has been very little change in the profile of carers between 1999 and 2004.
8.2 The results indicate approximately 1 in 8 adults in Scotland provide unpaid care to another person, although it is more common for the person to live outwith rather than inside their household. Within the household, the majority of carers care for their spouse or partner and provide continuous care, whereas carers outside the household most commonly care for parents and are more likely to provide less than 20 hours of care a week. Around 16% of those caring in the household are sole carers.
8.3 An important difference among carers was whether they cared inside or outwith the household. Generally, the results indicate that those who care inside the household tend to be more disadvantaged. To illustrate, these individuals (compared with those who care outwith the household) more commonly are not working, live in non-working households, have lower incomes, are social renters, live in non-working households, and live in the more deprived areas. Additionally, in relation to other carers they more commonly have an illness or disability and rate their health as not good; they more commonly have no savings or investments; and they more commonly do not have access to a motor vehicle or a current driving license. Although it is recognised that these carers are generally older individuals, the results indicate that their situation is perhaps more influenced by their caring role than their age as the differences were often true for every age group.
8.4 The results in relation to sole carers indicate that the majority of these individuals care for their spouse or partner. It should be noted that it was only possible to discuss sole carers in terms of those providing sole care to another household member. The results indicate that these individuals (compared with other carers in the household) are more commonly older females who live in non-working older smaller households. They also more commonly lived in deprived areas. The extent to which carers are able to travel is also important as the Care 21 report indicated that many carers felt isolated from and ignored by the community, and found it difficult to access education and leisure opportunities. Sole carers more commonly do not have access to a motor vehicle and do not have a current driving license. Sole carers providing continuous care were generally older individuals living in non-working households who were less commonly in paid employment.
8.5 Young carers (this study only covers 16-17 year olds) have been identified as a vulnerable group. In particular, this group may need help and support as they should be seen first as young adults and second as carers. However, the current analysis did not reveal any significant differences between 16-17 year old young carers and non-carers, other than the fact that young carers were more likely to live in non-working households. It should be noted that owing to the way respondents are selected for interview in the SHS (highest income householder and randomly selected adult) it is possible that the extent and experiences of young unpaid carers are under-represented in this report. However, there were differences between carers and non-carers aged 16-24 years. These carers are more likely to be financially disadvantaged than non-carers. In contrast, older carers appear to cope better financially than other adults their age.
8.6 Given limitations with the SHS data, there still remains a need for further research with carers of vulnerable groups, i.e. young carers and BME carers. One interesting and perhaps unexpected result was the fact that older carers may be financially better off than older non-carers. Again, this is perhaps an area that could benefit from future investigation.
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