The cost of unpaid caring

Caring takes time and, as we know, time costs. With an ageing population that is living longer, there is less time and less money to be allocated to older people. In this article, Alex Fox looks at the role of and contribution made by informal carers to the social care system and says that more should be done to recognise their skills and knowledge as well as better support given to help prevent their ill health, thereby helping to reduce rising formal care costs to local social services.