research and insights

Latest insights: Caring responsibilities  

Thank you to everyone who took part in our caring responsibilities project. Your experiences are helping us better understand the realities of unpaid caring and how we can continue to improve the support we provide.  

What you said  

Many people don't identify as carers  

Just 57% of respondents identified as a carer, with many describing themselves instead as partners, parents, children or friends simply "doing what needs to be done".  

Caring is more than practical support  

68% provided household support, while 57% managed appointments and administration. Many also described the hidden work of coordinating care, navigating services and advocating for loved ones.  

The emotional impact is constant  

Participants described caring as something that rarely switches off, with emotional exhaustion, financial pressure, loss of personal time and isolation affecting many, regardless of how many hours they spent caring.  

Support is often accessed too late  

Many people delayed seeking help because they felt their situation wasn't "serious enough" or didn't see themselves reflected in the support available, meaning support was often only accessed at crisis point.  

Clear, relatable communication matters  

Participants told us that using everyday language and making support easier to recognise could help more people access help earlier and feel confident that it is relevant to them.  

What we’re doing  

Relatable communications  

From emails to social media, we’re changing the way we talk about care so that more people will identify themselves. This means using relational terms like ‘loved one, parent, or sibling’ instead of ‘carer’. We’re working on changing how support is identified on the website too.  

Support that reaches more families  

We don’t believe our support needs to change much but we are recommending some new additions to help more people. We want to create some simple self-assessment tools and resources that can help more people who don’t require full 121 support from caba.   

What we're doing

• Improving customer journeys and access to support  

• Reviewing how mental health services are communicated  

• Developing services using lived experience and feedback  

• Improving website navigation and accessibility  

• Exploring how fundraising conversations are approached