UK Care Statistics 2026

Dementia

Unpaid Carers

• An estimated 5.7 million unpaid carers in the UK (Carers UK, 2024)
• 2.7 million people provide 20+ hours of unpaid care per week
• The economic value of unpaid care in the UK is estimated at £162 billion per year
• Only 40% of those eligible for Carer's Allowance claim it
• Carers are twice as likely to have a long-term health problem compared to non-carers
• 1 in 4 carers have given up work entirely to care
• There are approximately 700,000 young carers aged 5–17 in England

Home Care Sector

• The home care sector provides around 500 million hours of care per year in England
• There are approximately 18,000 CQC-registered home care providers in England
• Around 60% of home care is arranged by councils; 40% is privately arranged
• Average hourly self-pay rate for home care: £25–£35/hour (varies significantly by region)
• Live-in care typically costs £1,000–£1,800/week

Hospital and Discharge

• Around 3 million NHS bed days are lost each year to people medically fit for discharge
• The average length of stay for an older adult in hospital is 10–12 days
• Hospital admission increases the risk of developing dementia in older adults
• Older people lose around 5% of muscle mass per day of hospital bed rest
• 255,000 hospital admissions per year are attributable to falls

Benefits and Funding

• Around 1 million pensioners who are eligible for Pension Credit are not claiming it
• 1.6 million people receive Attendance Allowance
• Around 3.1 million people receive PIP
• NHS Continuing Healthcare costs around £4 billion/year in England
• Only an estimated 30% of those who may be eligible for NHS CHC are ever assessed
• Adult social care is funded to the tune of £25+ billion/year in England

Loneliness

• 1.4 million older adults are chronically lonely in the UK (Age UK)
• Chronic loneliness is equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day in terms of health impact
• Lonely people have a 26% greater risk of developing dementia (Holt-Lunstad, 2023)
• Lonely people have a 32% increased risk of stroke
• 49% of adults over 75 live alone in the UK

Disability

• Around 14.6 million people in the UK have a disability (Family Resources Survey, 2023/24)
• Around 8 million disabled adults of working age
• The disability employment gap (difference between disabled and non-disabled employment rate) is approximately 27%
• Disabled people are twice as likely to live in poverty as non-disabled people
• Around 1 million adults in the UK have a learning disability