40% male carers in employment are working AND caring for more than 40 hours a week

16/10/14 . News

42% of the UK’s unpaid carers are male, dispelling the myth that carers are mostly female

Four in ten male carers in employment are working AND caring for more than 40 hours a week, according to a report by Carers Trust and the Men’s Health Forum. Men's Health Forum & Carers Trust report Husband, Dad, Son, Boyfriend, Carer?

The report ‘Husband, Partner, Dad, Son, Carer?’ looks into the experiences and needs of male carers and to help raise awareness of the fact that four in ten of the UK’s unpaid carers are male carers are mostly female.

The report, which surveyed more than 600 male carers found that:

Four in ten male carers said that they never had a break from their caring role
Seven out of ten male carers said that that they missed out on having a social life, leaving them isolated and alone
Over six in ten male carers (63%) helped the person they care for with feeding, washing and getting dressed
Almost 80% (79%) said they helped with housework

Male carers interviewed as part of the research commented:

I am completely isolated because of my caring role. I have very little time for myself because I work 40 hours a week, and care for 40 hours a week. I am tired all the time, so I don’t have the energy to do things.

Not had a night out in eight years. No social life, no relationship.

This project is part of the Men's Health Forum's work as a strategic partner of the Department of Health, NHS England and Public Health England.

Read more on the 'Husband, Partner, Dad, Son, Carer?' report's recommendations and download the executive summary or full report.

The Men’s Health Forum need your support

It’s tough for men to ask for help but if you don’t ask when you need it, things generally only get worse. So we’re asking.

In the UK, one man in five dies before the age of 65. If we had health policies and services that better reflected the needs of the whole population, it might not be like that. But it is. Policies and services and indeed men have been like this for a long time and they don’t change overnight just because we want them to.

It’s true that the UK’s men don’t have it bad compared to some other groups. We’re not asking you to ‘feel sorry’ for men or put them first. We’re talking here about something more complicated, something that falls outside the traditional charity fund-raising model of ‘doing something for those less fortunate than ourselves’. That model raises money but it seldom changes much. We’re talking about changing the way we look at the world. There is nothing inevitable about premature male death. Services accessible to all, a population better informed. These would benefit everyone - rich and poor, young and old, male and female - and that’s what we’re campaigning for.

We’re not asking you to look at images of pity, we’re just asking you to look around at the society you live in, at the men you know and at the families with sons, fathers and grandads missing.

Here’s our fund-raising page - please chip in if you can.

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