‘We’re invisible’: The hidden lives of the UK’s unpaid carers

They save the state billions – but lockdown has had a crushing effect on Britain’s army of workers who give up careers, social lives and financial security to look after vulnerable family members. Jane Dalton reports

Angela and Stephen Ralph care for their son, Sam, and Stephen’s mother (Angela Ralph)

The first thing that Katy Styles does every morning is dress her husband, Mark – socks, shirt with buttons and all. Then she’ll get their breakfast, arrange a hospital appointment, and then drive 20 minutes to see her mother to take a load of shopping, clean that house and check her mother’s bank statement. In between cooking meals, she will perhaps change a tap washer, clean the guttering and do some political lobbying, as well as organising repeat prescriptions for all three of them.

If the couple goes out, she helps push his wheelchair – although during the pandemic such occasions have been rare – but more often Katy dashes to the shops or pharmacy alone. It’s a punishing routine, even for someone who used to do triathlons. And although Katy has been told she is starting to lose her sight, she puts her husband’s and mother’s needs first.

“It took a while for my consultants to understand that a 10am appointment is impossible because of what I have to fit in in the morning before getting the train up to London, which is an hour-and-a-half from us here in Canterbury,” she says.