Building carer friendly communities: Carers Week 2026 report (8 June 2026)

Summary

To mark Carers Week 2026, this report from Carers UK and Carers Week supporter charities shares new research about carer friendly communities. Carer friendly communities are places, spaces, services and community groups where unpaid carers are recognised, understood, and valued.

Content

The research, based on polling of over 4,000 members of the public, highlights the following key findings:

• Carers can often find it difficult to participate in their communities. Nearly a quarter (23%) of current and former carers said they had been unable to take part in local groups or activities while caring – an estimated 5.7 million people. A fifth (20%) said they had been unable to maintain a healthy lifestyle – an estimated 5 million people.
• People caring for a high number of hours per week were even less likely to feel able to participate in their community. For example, over a third (39%) of people currently/ previously caring for 50 or more hours per week said they didn’t feel able to maintain a healthy lifestyle, compared with 15% of those caring for 19 hours per week or less.
• Some organisations and services are seen as more carer friendly than others. Pharmacies were seen as the most carer friendly organisation/service. 67% of current and former carers who visited a pharmacy said it was carer friendly. Public transport was seen as the least carer friendly – over a fifth (21%) of current and former carers who had used public transport said it was not carer friendly.
• Carers said that organisations are not carer friendly if they do not have a good understanding of what caring is, or they have not considered the impact of caring. 41% of current and former carers who felt that organisations or services were not carer friendly said that this was because they do not have a good understanding of what caring is and 37% said this was because they hadn’t considered what impact caring might have on them.

The impact on carers when communities are not carer friendly

• When communities are not carer friendly, this can have negative impacts on carers. 36% of current and former carers who felt that organisations or services were not carer friendly said this had a negative impact on their physical or mental health, and 35% said it made it more difficult to look after the person they care for. 30% said it had had a negative financial impact.
• Carers who felt unsupported by health and social care services were even more likely to say their mental health was impacted. 49% of current and former carers who felt that social care services were not carer friendly said that not getting the support and recognition they need has had a negative impact on their mental and physical health. Similarly, 45% of current and former carers who said their GP was not carer friendly said that not getting the support and recognition they need had a negative impact on their health
• Carers’ ability to work is negatively affected by employers who are not carer friendly. 44% of current and former carers who said their employer was not carer friendly said that not getting the recognition and support they need has made it more difficult to be in paid employment.

The support carers would like to see

• More carer friendly communities would help improve carers’ health and wellbeing. Over a third (34%) of current carers said that if their role as an unpaid carer was better understood, they would feel more valued, over a quarter (29%) said they would feel happier, and nearly a quarter (24%) said they would feel less stressed about caring. 19% said they would be better able to combine caring with other things, like paid employment.
• More recognition and understanding from organisations and services is important to carers, as well as having more opportunities to meet with other carers. When asked what one key thing could be done to build a carer friendly community, current and former carers highlighted the following areas:
  • more recognition of carers in communities, including better understanding of the impact caring can have
  • more opportunities to meet locally with other carers
  • more support from the NHS, including better identification of carers, signposting to further help more consultation with carers, and more consideration given to carers’ own health
  • more support, flexibility and understanding from employers
  • more financial support for carers