"Cancer carers spend an average of 16 hours every week providing care alongside their paid employment, equivalent to around 69 hours per month."
- Russell Young - Reframe Cancer
For years, employers have focused their cancer support on one person: the employee diagnosed with cancer. It's understandable. A diagnosis is visible. It prompts conversations with HR, line managers and occupational health. Support pathways are triggered, but there is another employee whose life has also changed overnight.
The husband driving to chemotherapy before work. The daughter spending evenings coordinating appointments and medication. The colleague quietly using annual leave to sit in oncology waiting rooms. They rarely identify themselves as carers. They simply see themselves as doing what any partner, parent or child would do. And that's precisely why they remain invisible.
However, the issue is now firmly on the public policy agenda, with the government publishing its first cross-government action plan for unpaid carers, recognising that millions of carers face challenges balancing caring responsibilities with work, education and their own health. The new strategy is built around three key pillars: recognising carers earlier, referring them to appropriate support and helping them reach their potential in work and education.
For employers, insurers and advisers, the message is clear. Carers are not a niche workforce group. They are working whilst simultaneously supporting loved ones through some of life's most challenging circumstances.
This is particularly relevant when it comes to cancer. Cancer incidence continues to rise across the UK, with more than 403,000 people now diagnosed every year. As these numbers increase, so will the number of employees balancing work with caring responsibilities for a loved one affected by cancer.
Early intervention matters
One of the biggest misconceptions surrounding workplace cancer support is that it begins with diagnosis. In reality, support often starts only once someone discloses they are struggling. By the time a line manager notices that an employee is struggling, many carers have already been balancing hospital appointments, treatment sessions, consultant discussions, emotional support, transport arrangements and financial pressures for months.
The financial impact is also considerable. Cancer carers spend an average of £401 per month on caring-related expenses, including travel, parking and medical costs. At the same time, many are trying to maintain their own wellbeing and continue to perform effectively at work.
These aren't isolated cases. They are a growing segment of the workforce whose contribution often goes unnoticed until wellbeing deteriorates, absence increases, or valuable employees begin looking elsewhere.
Reframe Cancer's research amongst working cancer carers highlights the scale of the challenge. There are currently more than 1.1 million working adults in the UK who are cancer carers. While maintaining full or part-time employment, they are simultaneously providing practical, emotional and often intensive support to a loved one navigating diagnosis, treatment and recovery.
Cancer carers spend an average of 16 hours every week providing care alongside their paid employment, equivalent to around 69 hours per month.
The impact on workplace attendance is significant. On average, cancer carers take 6.5 days off work every month to support a loved one with cancer. This includes 3.5 days of absence that employers are aware of, alongside a further three days taken through annual leave, sick leave or other arrangements to accommodate caring responsibilities.
These figures demonstrate why early intervention is so important.
A workforce issue
The government's action plan recognises that unpaid carers need better support if they are to remain economically active and continue contributing to the workforce.
Reframe Cancer’s research demonstrates why this matters. More than three-quarters (77%) of cancer carers say their caring responsibilities have impacted their work, while more than a third (36%) have considered moving jobs because they do not feel adequately supported by their employer.
On average, working cancer carers have been providing care for around 12 months while remaining in employment. Their responsibilities frequently include coordinating appointments, transporting loved ones to treatment, collecting medication, helping with daily living activities, managing finances and providing emotional support through what can be a lengthy and uncertain cancer journey.
For employers, the challenges that cancer carers face can translate into absence, reduced productivity, increased stress and, ultimately, the risk of losing experienced and valuable employees if they do not receive the right level of structured support.
The case for specialist support
Cancer is changing. More people are being diagnosed and surviving. More treatment is delivered over longer periods, and more people are working later in life. Many employees are simultaneously balancing careers with caring responsibilities. Taken together, these are not isolated trends. They represent a fundamental shift in the composition of today's workforce.
Supporting cancer carers is no longer simply an employee wellbeing initiative. It is becoming an essential component of workforce resilience. While general wellbeing services and Employee Assistance Programmes have an important role to play, they do not provide the long-term, specialist cancer support that carers need.
Our experience supporting cancer carers in the workplace shows that they benefit most from personalised clinical, practical, emotional and financial guidance delivered throughout the cancer pathway. This can include help accessing benefits, navigating healthcare systems, understanding treatment plans, accessing respite support and joining support networks.
Importantly, early support helps prevent problems from escalating. It enables carers to manage their responsibilities more effectively, reduces feelings of isolation and helps them remain engaged in work while supporting a loved one through cancer treatment.
Recognise, Refer, Reach
The government's new Recognise, Refer, Reach agenda acknowledges that unpaid carers should not have to wait until they are overwhelmed before support becomes available. Support is most valuable when it arrives before a crisis develops, not afterwards. Employers and insurers now have an opportunity to recognise cancer carers earlier, getting them the specialist workplace support they need during one of the most challenging times of their lives.
The government's message is clear: recognise unpaid carers earlier, refer them sooner and help them remain economically active. Because cancer doesn't stop with the person who receives the diagnosis.
Neither should the support.
