Scotland's Carers, 2026: Main Report
This report updates Scotland’s Carers (2015) and is the first in a series, intended to provide a useful source of information for carers’ organisations, policy makers, local authorities and anyone who is a carer or knows someone who is a carer.
Research references
Carduff, E., Finucane, A., Kendall, M., Jarvis, A., Harrison, N., Greenachre, J. and Murray, S. (2014) Understanding the barriers to identifying carers of people with advanced illness in primary care: triangulating three data sources. BMC Family Practice, 48(15). http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1471-2296-15-48.pdf
Carers UK (2022) State of Caring 2022, https://www.carersuk.org/reports/state-of-caring-2022-report/
Eikfert E. K., Adams, R., Dudley W., and Perko M., (2015) Family Caregiver Identity: A Literature Review, American Journal of Health Education, Vol. 46(6), https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/19325037.2015.1099482?needAccess=true
National Records of Scotland, (2024) Births Time Series Data, 2023. Available at: Births Time Series Data, 2023 - National Records of Scotland (NRS)
National Records of Scotland, (2024) Mid-2024 population estimates. Available at: Mid-2024 population estimates - National Records of Scotland (NRS)
National Records of Scotland, (2025) Quality Assurance Report – Health, Disability and Unpaid Care. Available at: Quality Assurance report - Health, disability and unpaid care | Scotland's Census
Office for National Statistics, (ONS), released 6 November 2024, ONS website, statistical bulletin, Sandwich carers, UK: January 2021 to May 2023
Rodrigues R., Simmons C., Zólyomi E., Vafaei A., Rehnberg J., Kadi S., Socci M., Fors S., Phillips S. P., (2024) Depends on whom you ask: Discordance in reporting spousal care between older women and men across European welfare states. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Vol. 125, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167494324001948?via=ihub
Schulz, R., Beach, S. R., Czaja, S. J., Martire, L. M., and Monin, J. K., (2020) Family Caregiving for Older Adults. Annual Review of Psychology, vol. 71. https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-psych-010419-050754
Scottish Government, (2010) Getting it Right for Young Carers. The Young Carers Strategy for Scotland 2010-2015. Available at: [ARCHIVED CONTENT]
Scottish Government, (2015) Scotland’s Carers. Available at: Scotland's Carers - gov.scot
Scottish Government, (2024) Health and Care Experience (HACE) Survey – further analysis of care experience. Available at: Experiences of carers - Health and Care Experience (HACE) survey – further analysis of care experience - gov.scot
Scottish Government, (2025) Scotland’s Carers Update Release March 2025. Available at: Scotland's Carers Update Release March 2025 - gov.scot
Whitley E., Benzeval M., (2025) Factors associated with the identification and wellbeing of hidden and confirmed carers: a dyad analysis, The Journals of Gerontology: Series B. Vol.80(8), https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12313011/
Contact
Email: SWStat@gov.scot