Northern women forced to provide £10bn in unpaid care a year due to hole in NHS provision, researchers say

Northern women are forced to provide £10bn in unpaid care a year because of a “hole” in NHS provision, according to new research.

A study, by Health Equity North, found women living in the North contribute £2bn more of informal care for loved ones than the national average.

Researchers discovered one in five women aged between 55 and 59 in the North cares for a family member due to their illness, disability, mental illness or substance use.

Dr Luke Munford, one of the report’s authors, told The Independent: “The provision of formal care from NHS services tends to be lower in the north relative to need and that leaves a hole which relatives are forced to pick up.”

Previous studies have found women are more likely than men to do unpaid care for children or sick or elderly loved ones.

The latest research found northern women face a range of inequalities compared to women in the rest of England - with women in the North living shorter lives, forced to work longer hours for lower wages and more likely to be in poverty.

Dr Munford, senior lecturer in health economics at the University of Manchester, said: “Across almost every metric in our report women in the north fare much worse than their counterparts in the rest of the country. It is a perfect storm because these issues reinforce each other.”

The report discovered women living in the North have fewer qualifications, poorer mental health, are more likely to be subjected to domestic abuse or get caught up in the criminal justice system than other women in England. Researchers also found more abortions take place and infant mortality is higher in the North.

The report estimates northern women lose out on as much as £132m each week and around £6.86bn per year due to a gulf in wages, in comparison to women in the rest of the country.

Girls born in the North East, North West and Yorkshire and the Humber between 2018 and 2020 can expect to be in good health until 59.7, 62.4 and 62.1 years, respectively - with this being up to four years less than the national average and up to six years less than girls in the South East.

Meanwhile, nine of the 10 police areas with the highest rates of women’s imprisonment were in the North of England in 2022.

Hannah Davies, executive director at Health Equity North, said: “Our report provides damning evidence of how women in the North are being failed across the whole span of their lives. 

“Over the last 10 years, women in the North have been falling behind their counterparts in the rest of the country, both in terms of the wider determinants of health and, consequently, inequalities in their health.

“There is a lot of work that needs to be done to turn the tide on the years of damage detailed in this report.”

More than 70 academic, health, social care and policy professionals from around the North were involved in the report.

Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire, said: “While the findings of this report will resonate with every woman and girl in West Yorkshire, they must now act as a vital wake-up to everyone in a position of power.”

North East Mayor Kim McGuinness added: "From leaving school to the boardroom, at home and at work, women and girls across the North bear the brunt of failings in our economy, society and public services. The lack of equality and opportunity that remains ingrained in modern Britain is unacceptable.”

Professor Kate Pickett, academic co-director at Health Equity North, said they are aware that a good deal of the inequality faced by Northern women is down to poverty - adding that this is “completely unacceptable in the 6th largest economy in the world”.

She added: “Cuts to welfare and public health funding, the pandemic and the cost of living crisis have hit the most deprived communities and the North hardest.”

A government spokesperson said: “It is wrong that people in different parts of the country have different chances of enjoying a long life in good health – which is why we have made it a national mission to grow the economy and make work pay for hardworking families wherever they live.

“We want to transform the lives of working women across the country, including by ensuring employers take steps to improve gender equality, and strengthening protections from sexual harassment.

“We will also take action across government to tackle the underlying causes of poor health, support people to live independently for longer, and reduce the gap in healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest regions in England.”