Introduction

This chapter examines the issue of combining paid work with the care of a disabled or seriously ill partner in England and Australia. It begins by outlining the prevalence and characteristics of partner-carers of working age in each country, using survey data on their demographic characteristics, participation in paid employment, the services and welfare benefits they access, their reasons for leaving paid work, and their future employment plans. Case studies are then used to illustrate the challenges faced by partner-carers in trying to reconcile their caring and employment roles in the English and Australian contexts, and recent policy developments in each country and their implications for this group of carers are discussed. The chapter concludes by considering the effectiveness of the support available to partner-carers and the implications of the evidence available for future policy development.

Partner-carers: prevalence and characteristics

England

In 2001, the Census of Population showed that England and Wales had 5.2 million carers (ONS, 2003: 8). Survey data suggest that around one fifth to one quarter of all carers care for a partner, figures ranging from 18% (Maher and Green, 2002) to 26% (NHSIC, 2010). A survey of working-age carers in Great Britain in 2007 found that half of those caring for a partner were men, a much higher percentage than for carers of other people (Yeandle et al, 2007a).

Partner-carers emerge consistently as one of the three largest groups of carers, along with carers of a sick or disabled child and carers of a parent, and tend to be older than other carers. Ross et al (2008) found that 39% of carers over the age of 52 were caring for a partner, their average age being 68 (men) and 67 (women), while Yeandle et al's (2007a) study of carers of working age found that among 504 partner-carers, 60% were aged 50 to 64.

Partner-carers have especially heavy care responsibilities. In the latter study, 86% cared for an average of 20 hours per week (compared with 79% of other carers) and 63% for 50 or more hours per week (compared with 57%). That study also found that two thirds of partner-carers had been caring for at least five years.