Our latest report with Vodafone UK, Lost Connections, explores the challenges faced by unpaid carers – those helping another person, usually a relative or friend, in their day-to-day life in the workplace.

Almost one in 10 of the female carers we polled stated that caring was the main reason for leaving their last job – and this number could be even higher given that a lot of parents do not class looking after their own children as ‘caring’. With the number of unpaid carers in the UK set to continue to rise, these findings demonstrate that failing to support carers risks heightening pre-existing gender inequalities around pay, progression and participation in the workplace.

It  is crucial that the Government and employers collaborate to ensure that unpaid carers are able to continue working if they wish by:

• Reflecting on the benefits of remote and flexible working during the pandemic and, where suitable, continue with these practices post-COVID;

• Adopting enhanced parental leave policies – such as Vodafone’s new offering of 16 weeks of fully paid parental leave – will help to reduce the stigma around taking time off for caring responsibilities;

• Increasing transparency about care and parental policies in the recruitment process;

• Make supportive technology more accessible to carers and employers, after 92 per cent of the carers we polled said that technology and connectivity had become more important to them since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Read the report here