Carers should 'get flexible hours'

14-an-hour cost is more than I get paid myself.

"I do work flexi-time and from home for a large borough council but I can no longer cope with the commuting or cost and need to find a job nearer home. "

"By encouraging employers to do more we can build a stronger economy in a fairer society.

"Supporting carers is an economic necessity - leaving them to balance work and care creates a lose-lose situation for everyone."

He said the UK could not afford to lose experienced workers who double as carers from the workforce.

The Work and Families Act 2006 gives carers the right to request changes to their working patterns to better manage their caring.

Employers can only reject such requests based on reasons listed in the act, most of which relate to negative effect on the business.

But Mr Hunt said a cultural change was needed among employers, saying carers should get the same flexible working opportunities as parents with young children.

Meanwhile, research by the London School of Economics (LSE) suggested a gap between the number of frail elderly people in need of care and those able to provide it free would begin to become evident in England by 2017.

By 2032, 160,000 elderly people could be left without the support they need, the researchers predicted.

LSE used population projections and survey data to compile the figures.

An estimated 675,000 older people currently rely on unpaid carers - mainly their children - as they fall outside the state support system, which is available to the poorest.

'Stressed staff'Continue reading the main storyFlexible working options Flexi-time (choosing when to do some or all of your hours) Home working or tele-working (some or all work done away from work) Job sharing Part-time working Term-time working Shift-swapping or self-rostering (Employees agree shifts among themselves) Staggered hours (Employees have various starting and finishing times) Compressed hours (Employees work their total hours over fewer working days) Annualised hours (Working hours are calculated over a whole year and then split into "fixed shifts" and "reserve shifts" which can be agreed on a more flexible basis)

Source: Carers UK

Carers UK chief executive Helena Herklots said the problem could have a profound impact on society.

"In addition to the personal costs to families, the costs will be felt across society and public services - more and more older people admitted to hospitals needing avoidable emergency care, businesses coping with stressed staff trying to care alongside work and the economy suffering as increasing numbers of workers are forced to quit work to care," she said.

Age UK charity director Michelle Mitchell added: "These projections once again underline the huge importance of ending the crisis in social care."

The 2011 census revealed that, at the time of the survey, 5.8m people in England and Wales provided some level of unpaid care for disabled, sick or elderly relatives - and 2.1m of those provided more than 20 hours of care per week.