About Carents Room CIC

The Carents Room Community Interest Company (CIC) exists because adults caring for ageing parents are increasingly relied upon yet remain largely unsupported.

Millions of people are quietly caring for elderly parents alongside jobs, families, and their own lives. Many do not identify as carers and receive little recognition or understanding for the role they play. As a result, many fall outside eligibility for formal support, despite carrying significant responsibility.

Most are juggling work, family, and care at a cost to their own health and wellbeing. As demand grows, the gap between what carents need and the support available to them continues to widen.

Closing this gap is why The Carents Room CIC exists.

Supporting an ageing population, and the family members who care for them, will be one of the UK’s defining social and economic challenges of the next decade.

By 2030, more than 22 million people in the UK will be aged 65 and over. Longer lives do not automatically mean healthier lives. Rising levels of frailty, chronic illness, and mobility issues are increasing demand for care at the same time as health and social care systems remain under extreme pressure

This demographic change is outpacing existing support services, resulting in growing reliance on informal family care provided by adult children - the carents.

There are already an estimated 4 million carents in the UK, and this number will continue to rise. Carents are required to navigate complex health, social care, legal, financial, and employment systems often without coordination, recognition, or guidance.

Without appropriate support, the impact on carents is significant, affecting their physical health, mental wellbeing, financial security, and employment prospects.

The Carents Room CIC exists to raise awareness of the vital role carents play in society, provide support in the work place, fund projects and activities that support and connect those looking after their elderly parents to build confidence, reduce loneliness, and improve well-being, mental health and employment opportunities 

Independent evaluation shows a social return of £17 for every £1 invested, demonstrating that early recognition and targeted support for carents delivers substantial social and economic value.

Carenting has become a distinct and widespread life stage.Adults caring for ageing parents now represent 57% of all unpaid carers in the UK, yet their role remains poorly recognised by policy, employers, and support systems that were not designed for this reality.

The workforce impact is significant:

• Around 10% of the available workforce are likely to be carents

• Without support, over 75% reduce their hours, change roles, or leave work altogether

• Many are experienced professionals, managers, and leaders - talent that organisations and the economy cannot afford to lose

The personal cost is equally stark: 

• 70% report feeling lonely
• 86% neglect their own health
• 23% have missed routine cancer screenings due to caring responsibilities

Carents care out of compassion and love, but without recognition and support, that care often comes at a high cost to their own wellbeing, health, and financial stability.

Without carents, health and social care systems would struggle to cope. Supporting carents is therefore not only a matter of compassion, but of sustainability.

• Policy makers, shaping workforce participation, public health outcomes, and social care demand
• Employees, balancing work, care, and wellbeing with limited formal support
• Health and social care systems, increasingly dependent on unpaid family care
• The wider economy, through lost productivity and preventable health costs