Scotland's Carers, 2026: Main Report

4. Hours of care provided

4.1 Key points

• Both the SHeS and the census agree that the largest proportion of carers provide up to 19 hours of care (9% of people aged 16+ in the SHeS, 7% in the census), compared to other, more intensive, caring roles.
• Carers aged 75+ are more likely to provide 35+ hours of care than carers in all other age-groups. They are also the only age-group which is more likely to provide 35+ hours of care than other caring intensities, while all other age-groups are most likely to provide up to 19 hours of care.
• There were no notable differences in the distribution of caring hours provided by male and female carers, in either the SHeS or the census.
• Although the SHeS reports a lower proportion of carers providing 35+ hours of care per week than the census, the SHeS indicates that this proportion has increased over time (from 18% of carers in 2012-2013 to 22% in 2019-2023), in contrast to the census which has seen a marginal decrease (from 36% of carers in 2011 to 35% in 2022).

It is difficult to say what the true distribution of hours of care being provided is, as the two main sources of evidence (the SHeS and the census) suggest different patterns of care. However, as stated previously, the SHeS has been selected as the principal data source within this report. As such, this section predominantly presents analysis of the SHeS data investigating hours of care provided and how this has changed over time – as well as breakdowns by age and sex – however, it also includes analysis of census data to provide additional context.

4.2 SHeS 2019-2023

For adults aged 16+, the SHeS 2019-2023 reports:

• 85% of people reported that they did not provide any unpaid care
• 9% provided up to 19 hours a week
• 1% provided between 20 and 34 hours a week
• 3% provided 35+ hours a week
• Less than 1% said the amount of care they provided varied from week to week

4.3 Scotland's Census 2022

Of those aged 16+, the census shows:

• 87% of people said they did not provide care (around 3,935,000 people)
• 7% said they provided 1-19 hours care a week (over 340,000 people)
• 1% provided 20-34 hours of care a week (more than 60,000 people)
• 5% said they provided 35+ hours a week (over 213,000 people)

4.4 Comparing findings from SHeS 2019-2023 and Scotland's Census 2022

Although the SHeS has been selected as our primary source for the purpose of this report, it is notable that the estimates of carers providing more intensive caring roles (35+ hours per week) is lower in the SHeS than in the census.

Figure 7: Alongside a larger proportion of carers overall (15% compared to 13% in the census), SHeS 2019-2023 reports a larger proportion of carers providing up to 19 hours of care per week than the 2022 census. The census, on the other hand, reports a greater proportion of carers providing 35+ hours of care than SHeS.

The proportion of the population aged 16+ providing different numbers of hours of care per week, comparing Scotland-level data from the SHeS 2019-2023 and Scotland’s Census 2022.

Note: To allow direct comparability of categories of hours of care, “Various hours” has been included separately in the SHeS data (orange), however there is no equivalent category in the census data. The chart was produced using rounded figures for the SHeS, so the sum of the rounded SHeS categories seen in the chart (14%) does not match the overall rounded proportion of carers aged 16+ (15%). The chart is based on unrounded figures for the census – therefore the sum of categories appears slightly above 13%.

As seen in Figure 7 above, the SHeS shows a higher percentage of people who provide fewer hours of care per week (9% of people aged 16+ providing up to 19 hours per week, compared to 7% in the census). In contrast, the census reports a slightly higher proportion of people providing 35+ hours of care per week (5%, compared to 3% in the SHeS) – equivalent to some full-time jobs.

We acknowledge that there may be plausible reasons why the census produces higher estimates for carers providing more intensive levels of care; however, it is not possible to determine this with any degree of certainty. As such, it can be challenging to draw strong conclusions from these results. This section considers some potential factors that may explain the differences in the number of hours of care reported between the SHeS and the census.

4.4.1 Impact of survey type

There may be potential differences in how people with very high intensity caring responsibilities might respond to different types of surveys. Individuals providing care equivalent to a full‑time job or more may have less time – or willingness – to take part in voluntary surveys such as the SHeS. In contrast, the census is mandatory, which may increase response rates among those providing the highest intensities of care. This could contribute to the higher census estimate for carers providing 35+ hours of care.

4.4.2 Interpreting SHeS estimates and confidence intervals

The SHeS 2019-2023 estimates that over 3% of people aged 16+ provide 35+ hours of care each week, which equates to an estimated 150,000 people. In addition to this, a further 1% of people provide care that varies a lot from week to week, equivalent to 25,000 people. Combining these figures, the SHeS estimate of 175,000 people providing 35+ hours, or varied hours of care, is still lower than the census figure of those providing 35+ hours of care (around 213,000 people aged 16+).

As noted previously, the SHeS is a sample survey. This means that all estimates come with confidence intervals that show the range within which the true value is likely to fall. Confidence intervals are especially important when looking at subgroups – such as carers providing specific levels of caring intensity – because smaller sample sizes lead to wider intervals and greater uncertainty.

For example, the SHeS estimate of around 175,000 people aged 16+ providing 35+ hours a week, or varied amounts of care, comes with a 95% confidence interval ranging from 153,000 to 197,000. When this range is taken into account, particularly the upper limit, the difference between the SHeS estimate and the census figure of 213,000 carers providing 35+ hours of care appears less pronounced.

4.4.3 Annual versus aggregated data

The SHeS data used in this report is based on four years of combined data (2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023 – data from 2020 was excluded because the COVID‑19 pandemic affected comparability with other years). Pooling multiple years increases the sample size and helps ensure that the resulting estimates are statistically robust.

To explore the differences in high intensity caring roles between sources, this analysis was also run using 2023 data alone. This produced a higher estimate, suggesting that more than 4% of people provided 35+ hours (or varied amounts) of care per week, compared with less than 4% in the 2019-2023 data.

This annual estimate equates to around 194,000 people, with an associated confidence interval of 148,000 to 239,000. Notably, the upper bound of this interval is above the census estimate of 213,000. This could suggest that caring patterns may be changing in recent years, and pooling several years of data could have the potential to mask emerging shifts.

These findings highlight the need to balance the use of the most up-to-date data with the need for sufficiently large sample sizes to produce reliable estimates. While the 2023 annual estimate provides useful context, the sample sizes are too small to support more detailed breakdowns – such as age-sex analysis of caring intensity – for that single year. For this reason, this report predominantly relies on the aggregated 2019-2023 dataset for the remainder of the analysis.

4.5 Changes in hours of care over time

It is hard to say how the trends of those providing different hours of care have changed over time, as the two main sources of evidence (SHeS and the census) suggest different trends. However, as stated previously, the SHeS is the principal data source used within this report. As such, we will primarily present SHeS data investigating changes in caring prevalence over time, with analysis of census data being provided for further context.

4.5.1 SHeS 2019-2023

According to the SHeS, when looking at all responses of people aged 16+ (both carers and non-carers) over time, significantly more people provide no care in 2019-2023 (85%) compared to 2012-2013 (83%). This change appears to be primarily driven by a decrease in those providing up to 19 hours (9% in 2019-2023, compared to 11% in 2012-2013). The proportions of people providing 20-34 and 35+ hours per week have remained similar between 2012-2013 and 2019-2023.

However, when looking only at those reporting that they provide care, the SHeS reports a significant increase in the proportion of carers providing 35+ hours per week (22% in 2019-2023, compared to 18% in 2012-2013). This indicates that although not significant on a population level, the change in people providing the highest levels of care is significant when considering the caring population specifically.

Figure 8: According to the SHeS, whilst the proportions of carers who provided up to 19 hours of care per week, and 20-34 hours per week, remained similar between 2012-2013 and 2019-2023, the proportion of carers providing 35+ hours per week has increased over the same time.

The proportion of carers aged 16+ providing different intensities of care on average per week, comparing Scotland-level data from the SHeS 2012-2013 and the SHeS 2019-2023.

4.5.2 Scotland's Census 2022

The census reports a decrease in people aged 16+ providing no care between 2011 (91%) and 2022 (87%). This is contrary to the findings of SHeS, which saw an increase in the proportion of people providing no care between 2012-2013 and 2019-2023.

The census shows an increase in the proportion of people providing up to 19 hours of care per week (from 6% of people aged 16+ in 2011, to 7% in 2022), again opposed to the decreasing trend seen in the SHeS. Small increases are also seen in the proportions of people providing 20-34 and 35+ hours (less than 1 percentage point difference) – consistent with the SHeS, which found no significant differences over time for these groups.

When considering the proportions of carers providing different hours of care, the census reports marginal differences for those providing up to 19 and 20-34 hours of care between 2011 and 2022. Again, this is similar to the SHeS which found no significant differences in these groups of carers. The proportion of carers providing 35+ hours of care in the census saw a small decrease (from 36% of carers aged 16+ in 2011, to 35% in 2022), contrary to the increase seen in the SHeS.

Figure 9: General stability within the caring population is seen between 2011 and 2022 in the distribution of caring intensities, with a marginal decrease in the proportion of carers providing 35+ hours of care a week.

The proportion of carers aged 16+ providing different intensities of care on average per week, comparing Scotland-level data from Scotland’s Census 2011 and Scotland’s Census 2022.

Overall, this suggests that while the number of people providing care has increased in the census, the proportion of carers delivering the highest intensity of care has not grown proportionally. In other words, although more people were carers in 2022 compared to 2011, this growth appears to be distributed across similar caring intensities, with no marked shift towards more people providing 35+ hours of care.

In summary, trends in caring intensity differ between the SHeS and the census. The SHeS indicates no change in the proportion of the population providing 35+ hours of care over time, but an increase in the proportion of carers delivering this level of care, whereas the census shows broad stability in the population providing 35+ hours of care, and a slight decrease in the proportion of carers. These differences may suggest that the census could be capturing slightly more newly formed caring roles across all hours of care, whilst the SHeS may reflect existing carers taking on more intensive caring roles.

4.5.3 Further analysis

To investigate the difference seen in trends of carers providing 35+ hours of care per week over time between the SHeS and the census – where the SHeS shows an increase, compared to a slight decrease seen in the census – data were broken down into more granular groups of caring intensity.

The SHeS shows a significant increase in the proportion of carers providing between 35-49 hours of care per week, from 4% of carers in 2012-2013, to 6% of carers in 2019-2023. Conversely, no significant change was seen in the proportion of carers providing 50+ hours of care (from 15% in 2012-2013 to 16% in 2019-2023). As such, the data indicates that the increase seen in carers providing 35+ hours of care is primarily driven by an increase in those providing care at the lower end of that range (35-49 hours).

Consistent with SHeS findings, the census also shows an increase in carers providing 35-49 hours of care per week, from 8% in 2011 to 10% in 2022. In contrast, the proportion of carers providing 50+ hours declined from 27% to 25%, compared to SHeS data that showed no significant change. This suggests the small overall reduction in carers providing 35+ hours seen in the census may be driven by fewer carers providing 50+ hours.

Taken together, these findings indicate growth in the proportion of carers providing 35-49 hours per week, however those providing 50+ hours have remained stable in the SHeS and fallen slightly in the census.

4.6 Hours of care by sex

The SHeS data indicates very similar distributions of caring intensity between men and women aged 16+, with no significant differences for any caring intensity group.

As previously discussed, the proportion of adult carers providing lower intensities of care (up to 19 hours of care per week) is higher in SHeS than in census, with the inverse being true for higher intensity caring roles (35+ hours of care per week), where the proportion of carers is higher in the census data than the SHeS.

When considering the distribution of hours of care by the sex of carers however, a similar pattern is observed in the census and SHeS data, where male and female carers are equally likely to provide each level of caring intensity.

Table 1: Both the SHeS and the census agree that the distribution of different caring intensities is consistent for men and women.

The proportion of the caring population aged 16+ that provide different intensities of care on average per week, broken down by sex, comparing Scotland-level data from the SHeS 2019-2023 and Scotland’s Census 2022.

Source	Sex	Up to 19 hours (%)	20 to 34 hours (%)	35+ hours (%)
SHeS 2019-2023	Male	65%	9%	22%
SHeS 2019-2023	Female	65%	9%	22%
Census 2022	Male	56%	10%	35%
Census 2022	Female	55%	10%	35%

Note: for the purposes of this comparison, “Various hours” (~4% for men and women) were excluded from this table. As such, the SHeS percentages do not sum to 100%.

Table 1 shows that within the caring population, neither data source indicates any notable differences in the proportions of men and women providing any intensity of care.

4.7 Hours of care by age

When considering both the SHeS and census data by age-group, there is relative stability in the distribution of hours of care provided across younger age-groups. However, greater differences begin to emerge with increasing age (notably carers aged 75+).

As discussed previously, the proportion of carers providing 35+ hours of care is higher in the census than in the SHeS. This can be seen across most age-groups with the exception of those aged 16-24, where although the census reports a higher proportion than the SHeS (24% and 18% of carers reporting 35+ hours per week, respectively), the confidence intervals of the SHeS estimate overlap with the census figure, so this is not indicative of a notable difference.

However, this trend – where the proportion of carers providing 35+ hours of care per week is higher in the census than in the SHeS – is most pronounced in those aged between 25 and 34, where the census indicates the proportion of carers providing 35+ hours of care (37% of carers) is more than double that of the SHeS estimate for this age-group (18% of carers).

Figure 10: Both the SHeS and the census agree that the distribution of caring intensities is similar in younger age-groups, though the census is more likely to report carers providing 35+ hours of care than the SHeS. Carers aged 75+ are more likely to provide 35+ hours than all other age-groups.

The proportion of the caring population aged 16+ providing different intensities of care on average per week, for each age-group, comparing Scotland-level data from the SHeS 2019-2023 and Scotland’s Census 2022.

Note: to directly compare relevant caring intensities between the SHeS and the census, “Various hours” (orange) has been included in the SHeS data, although no comparable category is present in the census.

The SHeS data show a clear pattern, where carers aged 75+ are significantly less likely than all other age-groups to provide up to 19 hours of care, and significantly more likely to provide 35+ hours. This pattern may reflect the higher likelihood that older carers could be providing support to cohabiting spouses, resulting in more sustained contact and consequently a greater number of hours of care provided. They are also the only age-group where the largest proportion of carers were providing 35+ hours of care per week (49%), whereas the majority of carers in all other age-groups provided up to 19 hours (all over 50%).

The census, however, presents a more complex distribution. Fewer than half of carers aged 65-74 (49%) and 75+ (32%) provide up to 19 hours, indicating more intensive caring among older carers than suggested by the SHeS. Meanwhile, although carers aged 25-34 and 35-44 are still more likely to provide up to 19 hours (53% and 52%), these are only narrow majorities and much lower than the SHeS equivalents (71% and 66%).

Overall, each source shows a broadly similar pattern of care across younger age-groups, but differences become increasingly apparent among older carers. The census consistently reports higher proportions providing 35+ hours than the SHeS – particularly for those aged 25-34 – resulting in a more even distribution of caring intensity across most age-groups, compared with the sharper contrasts observed in the SHeS.