Transcript Using the SARs to influence the policy agenda for carers

Uses of population statistics
and census outputs:
Academia and the third sector
– a partnership approach
Lisa Buckner
CIRCLE
School of Sociology and Social Policy
University of Leeds
Contents
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Background – Carers
CIRCLE and Carers UK
Census and population statistics – some examples
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Carers with disabled children
Carers and employment
Older carers
Carers and locality
Influencing policy
In an ideal world …
Wish list - data and access
Acknowledgements
Further information
 University of Leeds
Background - Carers
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1965 – National Council for the Single Woman and her Dependants
(NCSWD) founded by Rev. Mary Webster - first carers’ organisation
1986 – Disabled Persons Act (required LAs to ‘have regard to the ability of that
other person to continue to provide such care on a regular basis’)
1990 NHS and Community Care Act (carers receive recognition under that
name)
1995 - Carers (Recognition & Services) Act (provides for the assessment of
the ability of carers to provide care, introducing the concept of carers’ assessment)
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1997 for first time all 3 major parties’ election manifestos included
pledges for carers
1999 – First National Carers Strategy: ‘Caring about Carers’
2000 - Carers & Disabled Children Act (makes provision about the
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2004 - Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act (places a duty on local authorities to
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inform Carers of their right to a Carers Assessment)
2006 - Work and Families Act (extends the right to request flexible working to
carers in employment)
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assessment of carers’ needs)
2008 – Revised National Carers’ Strategy ‘Carers at the heart of 21st
century families and communities: a caring system on your side, a life of
your own’
Background - Carers
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Evidence base
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Questions added to GHS 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000
1985 GHS - ‘Is there anyone living with you who is sick,
handicapped or disabled whom you look after or give
special help to?’
Included questions on:
 Co-residency,
 Relationship to cared for person,
 Age, sex of cared for person
 Type of help
 Weekly hours of care, length of time caring
 Access to breaks from caring
Estimate - 6-7 million carers in Great Britain. However, this
was often questioned since it was only based on a ‘survey’.
Background - Census
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2001 Censuses – first to include question on unpaid
care
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'Do you look after or give any help or support to family
members, friends or neighbours or others because of: longterm physical or mental ill-health or disability or problems
related to old age?‘
No, Yes: 1-19 hours, Yes: 20-49 hours, Yes: 50+ hours
Comprehensive coverage so provided the first UK-wide
snapshot of carers – data used to support campaign for
better recognition of carers
Limitations - Doesn’t cover additional questions
asked in GHS
Benefits - Data available at lower geographical levels
Background - Census
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Standard Census Output:
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Available at very low geographic levels – down to OA
Limited number of variables available
Categories don’t always fit the group of interest e.g. Care
by economic activity and sex (for people aged 16-74)
SARs
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Large range of variables
Access is free and immediate (except for 2001 Household
SAR or 2001 CAM)
Limited geography (SAR) or limited variables (SAM)
Could commission data from ONS but costly and time
consuming and don’t always know what will be interesting
CIRCLE and Carers UK
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CIRCLE's partnership with the national voluntary organisation
Carers UK began in 2002 when Sue Yeandle's research team was
appointed to evaluate the ACE1 partnership (Action for Carers and
Employment).
This continued through ACE2, when, in 2006, the University of
Leeds entered the ACE2 partnership, also led by Carers UK, and
again funded through the EU EQUAL Community Initiative
Programme.
During 2006 to 2007, CIRCLE's team of research staff conducted a
large national study, the CES (Carers, Employment and Services)
study.
CIRCLE's new partnership with Carers UK, focused on knowledge
transfer activities, commenced early in 2008, and supported the
organisation of the 5th International Conference on Carers in Leeds,
8-11 July 2010.
Census data
- Carers of disabled children
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Used 2001 Household SAR
 Definition – Census doesn’t include questions on
disability so used Limiting long-term illness (LLTI) as a
proxy.
There are nearly half a million sick or disabled children in
England and Wales.
34% live in households where there is no adult in paid
work, compared with 18% of children who are not sick or
disabled.
In England and Wales, 212,000 families have a child
with a LLTI and at least one co-resident adult who sees
him/herself as a carer.
Census data
- Carers of disabled children
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Compared with parents whose children are not sick
or disabled, parent carers in homes where 20 or
more hours of unpaid care is given each week are:
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Older
Much more likely to be in poor health (12% compared with
5%), or to have a long-term illness or disability themselves
(20% compared with 10%)
More likely to be lone parents - especially men (15%
compared with 3%)
More likely to lack formal qualifications and less likely to be
educated to degree level
Considerably less likely to be in employment – especially if
they are women (35% compared with 63%)
When in employment, more likely to work in low-skilled,
low-paid jobs and more likely to work locally
Census data
- Carers and employment
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Explored characteristics of working carers using 2001
individual SAR, SAM, as well as standard and
commissioned census output
2.5 million people in England and Wales combine unpaid
caring with paid work
1.5 million carers work full-time, and of these:
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140,000 care for 50+ hours per week
58% of these working carers are men
90% of working carers are aged 30-SPA (Individual SAR)
Carers caring for 20+ hours a week are two to three
times more likely than workers without caring
responsibilities to be in poor health (Individual SAR)
Young Bangladeshi and Pakistani men and women are
three times more likely than other younger people to
combine paid work and caring (Individual SAR)
Census data
- Carers and employment
People in routine or semi-routine jobs
45
Percentage of people in employment
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Leeds
ENGLAND
Leeds
Men
ENGLAND
Women
None
1-19 hours
20+ hours
2001 Census SAM
Men and women who care for 20+ hours a week are much less likely to
be in higher level jobs (SAR + SAM for local-level data)
Census data
- Older carers
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SARs allows characteristics of older people to be
explored in greater depth.
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Amongst men and women aged 45-SPA:
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21% of men who are retired and 28% of women are carers
(compared with 16% and 23% of all people)
61% of men who are looking after their home/family and 34% of
women are carers
Amongst carers aged 45-SPA providing 50+ hours of
care a week:
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18% of men and 12% of women are permanently sick or
disabled (11% of male and 10% of female non-carers)
42% of men and 36% of women are working (compared with
72% and 68% of non-carers)
Census and Carers
- Older carers
People with a LLTI by amount of care provided (excludes residents in CEs)
70
Percentage of people
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
60-64
65-69
70-74
75+
60-64
65-69
Men
Women
No care
2001 Census SAR
70-74
1-19 hours care
20+ hours care
75+
Census and Carers
- Carers and locality
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SAM used to explore geographic variation in carers
characteristics and also to provide LAs with
information about carers in their area.
Geographic variation in carers and characteristics:
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Carers concentrated in former industrial areas (North East,
South Yorkshire, Merseyside, West Midlands, South Wales) not in
areas with a high number of older people
Carers and poverty - carers of WA in households with no
working adult
 33% of carers in Manchester to 7% in Mole Valley in Surrey
 For carers providing 20+ hours a week of care – 53% in
South Tyneside to 9% in Rutland
Census and Carers
- Carers and locality
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Geographic variation in carers and labour
market engagement:
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Carers and employment
Carers in low-skilled, low-paid jobs
Can also use SAM to link local carers
characteristics to provision of services to
carers locally
Population data and Carers
- Future demand for care
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Geographic variation in population changes
by age-gender:
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Future numbers of carers – assume census
prevalence and apply to sub-national population
projections
Future numbers of older people – population
projections of people by age and ethnicity
Influencing carers policy
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Carers UK Campaigning leaflets (Buckner and Yeandle):
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We care - do you? (2005)
Managing more than most - a statistical analysis of families with
sick or disabled children (2006)
More than a job - Working carers: evidence from the 2001
Census (summary) (2006)
Working carers – evidence from the 2001 Census (2006)
Older carers in the UK (2006)
Valuing carers (2007)
Care and caring in EU member states (2007)
Project reports
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Who Cares Wins: The Social and Business Benefits of
Supporting Working Carers (Yeandle, Bennett, Buckner, Shipton,
Suokas)
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Carers, employment and services (6 national reports and 8 local
reports) (Yeandle, Bennett, Buckner, Fry, Price)
Influencing carers policy
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House of Commons - Work and Pensions Committee
‘Valuing and Supporting Carers’ Fourth Report of
Session 2007–08, Published Aug 2008 (HC 485-I)
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Quotes Carers Employment and Services statistics on:
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Parent carers of disabled children
Carers in employment
Carers by ethnic group
Revised National Carers Strategy (2008) ‘Carers at the
heart of 21st-century families and communities’
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Carers (20+ hours) in workless households
In an ideal world…
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2001 Census access much improved from 1991 but in some
respects 2001 was a backward step (e.g 2001 SAR geography).
For 2011 need to be able to meet the changing face of research.
Often undertake research that:
 Requires a fast turn around
 May only require a few key figures
 Will be policy focused and may have a big impact but won’t
necessarily lead to academic output e.g. Carers UK campaigning
leaflets, ‘carers save country £87 billion’
 Needs instant access to data – SARs ideal with the exception of
2001 Household SAR!
To make research relevant to policy makers, data needs to be
local (e.g. CSSR)
 SAM is good for this but really needs better occupation/ industry
data
Wish list …
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Comprehensive and flexible 2011 Census output
2011 SAR family essential:
 To provide complete evidence base for carers (and other groups of
interest) in addition to standard census output
 To allow comparisons to be made with 2001
 To enable instant access to non-standard analysis (otherwise have
to commission data which takes time)
 To support policy focused research
To support this 2011 SAR family should include:
 Either:
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An Individual SAR down to LA level geography or
A similar Individual SAR to 2001 and a SAM with improved occupation/
industry data or
A system which allows a user to select different geographies and
different variables e.g. could have LA based individual SAR with
occupation but not ethnicity
An easier to access Household SAR
Wish list …
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Census Commissioned tables – could make these available
through Nomis
Better access to other National statistics data:
 Vital statistics (BMD + population estimates/projections) available
in Excel from website but structure of spreadsheets not always
suitable for analysis/mapping without additional (sometimes
extensive) modifications – formatting or area names, presence of blank
columns/rows, etc.
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Often difficult to find data on the National Statistics website – things
move!
Would like to see more data on Nomisweb or similar website (one–
stop-shop)
Acknowledgements
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The 2001 SARs are provided through the Cathie Marsh Centre for Census
and Survey Research (University of Manchester), with the support of the
ESRC and JISC. All tables containing Census data, and the results of
analysis, are reproduced with the permission of the Controller of Her
Majesty's Stationery Office and the Queen's Printer for Scotland.
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2001 Census Special Licence Household Sample of Anonymised Records.
This work is based on the SARs provided through the UK Data Archive at
the University of Essex and prepared through support by the Centre for
Census and Survey Research at the University of Manchester with the
support of ESRC and JISC. These data are Crown Copyright and are
reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO.
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CIRCLE works in an ongoing research partnership with Carers UK, led at
the University of Leeds by Prof. Sue Yeandle. The CIRCLE team gratefully
acknowledges Carers UK’s support for its work on carers, provided in 20022007 via the EU-funded Action for Carers and Employment partnership.
Further information
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Lisa Buckner – [email protected]
CIRCLE - Centre for International Research on
Care, Labour and Equalities
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Directed by Prof Sue Yeandle
www.sociology.leeds.ac.uk/research/careemployment/care-labour-equalities/