Over 10,000 unpaid carers in Donegal, demand has almost doubled over decade

Transcript

00:00As we know, the majority of care provided in the home is undertaken informally by family

00:04members and others.

00:06In Donegal alone, there are currently almost 10,700 unpaid carers, which is 6% of the county's

00:12population, compared to 5% in 2016.

00:16Similar to the rest of the country, females in the county are more likely to be carers

00:19than males, with 60% of all carers being female.

00:23As it currently stands, 8% of all females in Donegal are carers, compared to 5% of all

00:28males.

00:29As well as this, there are 139 carers under 15 years of age providing regular, unpaid

00:34care in Donegal.

00:36The period between 2016 and 2022 saw some notable increases in the hours of unpaid care

00:41provided.

00:43The number of carers in Donegal providing 43 or more hours of unpaid help each week

00:47almost doubled, from 1,688 in 2016 to 3,324 in 2022.

00:54This number has more than doubled nationally.

00:57Almost two-thirds of carers were aged between 40 and 64 years, and 15% were aged between

01:0265 years or over.

01:04It is clear that there is a significant and persistent imbalance between the men and women

01:08when it comes to unpaid work and caring.

01:11Many are expected to do this without any outside support, and existing unmet demand for home

01:15support is at an all-time high.