Unpaid carers save the Renfrewshire economy £568.3 million each year, it has been revealed. 

This staggering figure comes from a new report, "Valuing Carers: 2022, Scotland," launched by Carers Scotland and the Centre for Care.

The report estimates the total value of unpaid carers in Scotland at £15.9 billion, based on new statistics from Scotland's 2022 census.

This represents a significant 19.4 per cent increase in the contribution of unpaid carers since 2011, highlighting the growth in Scotland's unpaid carer population.

This increase is not only in the number of unpaid carers but also in the intensity of the care they provide.

Unpaid carers play a vital role in Scottish society, providing care and support to family members, friends, and neighbours who would otherwise struggle.

The report highlights the cost to the state if the care they provide were to be replaced.

Unpaid carers are deemed essential to the functioning of the health and social care system, providing indispensable support.

The report makes several recommendations to better support unpaid carers, including the need for the Scottish Government to increase investment in social care and breaks from caring.

It also suggests improving financial support for unpaid carers and introducing a duty on health services to identify and promote carers' health and wellbeing.

Richard Meade, director of Carers Scotland, said: "Unpaid carers are the backbone of our health and social care system and without them the system would simply collapse.

"£15.9bn in equivalent support every year is staggering.

"We must do so much more to support unpaid carers as they provide this care, as well as treating them with the dignity and respect they deserve, and truly valuing them for what they do."

He added: "We must do much more to support our unpaid carers to ensure they have a good quality of life alongside their caring role.

"Unpaid carers need more support from social services, including to ensure they get a break from caring, greater financial support and provisions to enable them to stay in paid employment alongside their caring role if they wish - and they need help from our NHS to protect and improve their health and wellbeing."

The research was led by Professor Matt Bennett from the Centre for Care at the University of Birmingham.

He said: "Our research shows the growing economic value of unpaid care in Scotland, which has reached an astonishing £15.9 billion.

"To put this in context, the NHS budget for Scotland in 2022/2023 was £17.8 billion.

"The value of unpaid care was also approximately four times higher than the expenditure on adult social services in Scotland that year.

"The economic contribution made by unpaid carers has increased by 19.4 per cent in the last decade and paints a stark picture of the savings they make to health care budgets.

"Without unpaid carers, our health and social care systems would collapse."

He continued: "In fact, our work not only shows that the number of carers has increased, but that they are also providing more hours of unpaid care than ever before.

"We hope policymakers see the urgent need to act to support unpaid carers."

This is an annual day for raising awareness about carers and the rights they have, to ensure they can access the support they are entitled to and the recognition they deserve.