Half of Britons will care for their old or sick relatives

More than half of all adults in Britain will care for ageing parents, sick partners or friends at some point in their lives, according to a study out today.

Two thirds of women and more than half of men will provide at least 20 hours of informal care per week before they reach the age of 75, the research has found. Dr Michael Hirst, of York University's social policy research unit, says that caring responsibilities are growing because the old, sick and disabled are living longer.

He said: "More adults are becoming heavily involved in providing longer episodes of care. These trends reflect changes in society including: rising numbers of frail old people, increased chances of living with a spouse in old age, higher rates of home ownership ... and continuing improvements in the life expectancy of severely disabled children."

Britain has an estimated 5.7 million carers, or 13 per cent of people over 16, who are thought to save the state anything between £34bn and £57bn a year. Dr Hirst based his analysis, which is published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, on a long-term study of 10,000 adults in 5,000 households across the UK.

He found most sons and daughters who take on the care of a parent do so between their mid-30s and mid-50s, which means they may also be raising young children at the same time as being a carer.

Other people start caring in their mid-50s to mid-70s, particularly if they are looking after a spouse. But, overall, the average age at which men and women take on their caring role is about 50.

Women are more heavily involved than men in providing care but, beyond the age of 75, men are more likely than women to start looking after a spouse at home.

During the 1990s, the number of adults providing more than 20 hours of care a week rose by seven per cent a year. If this trend continues, Dr Hirst says, the Government will have to increase the funding and support for carers, which has been criticised as inadequate.

He calls for more family-friendly employment practices and flexible working to help carers keep their jobs in their pre-retirement years, when they are saving for their own old age.

Dr Hirst said: "Enabling carers to maintain their attachment to the labour market could bring immediate and longer-term benefits to the working population, more so as women's employment continues to expand and their incomes increasingly sustain household finances."

The charity Carers UK said higher benefits and more support were vital to prevent a "crisis" in years to come. It said that many carers were forced to choose between paid work or looking after family members, in which case they were often "condemned to poverty" because the main carer benefit was worth just £42.45 a week.

Diana Whitworth, the charity's chief executive, said: "Anyone can become a carer and most of us will. As this research shows, many of tomorrow's parents will have to combine bringing up children with caring for other members of their family. We are talking about a different kind of society and we must be ready for the challenges that will present.

"Unless support and recognition for carers improves, many people may be unable or unwilling to take on the responsibility. If that happens, an impossible strain will be put on the NHS and social services. Improved benefits and support for carers today could prevent a crisis in the years ahead."