Shaping a Better Future for Care: How Research is Influencing Policy and Practice

The Centre for Care is a collaborative research centre dedicated to producing high-quality evidence about care, in order to help shape policy and practice, ultimately to improve people’s lives. It looks at care through the experiences of individuals, families, communities and paid workers, not just systems or institutions, ensuring that research reflects the realities of those who give and receive care.

The Centre has recently released the Towards a Better Future for Care: Impact Report (Nov 2021–Apr 2025), setting out how its research has influenced policy, practice and public debate over the past four years.

For anyone with a stake in social care, whether you work in it, rely on it, provide unpaid care, or help shape decisions at a local or national level, the report offers valuable insight into how it’s evidence is driving change.

One clear example is the centre’s research into unpaid carers, which helped inform discussions leading to the Carer’s Leave Act 2023 (implemented in 2024). This act gives unpaid carers the legal right to take up to five days of unpaid leave from work each year, a significant step in recognising the realities faced by millions balancing paid work and caring responsibilities.

The report also highlights how research is shaping practice on the ground. A key example is the Centre’s ‘Unpaid Care Dashboard’, a practical data tool that supports local authorities, care managers and carers organisations to better understand unpaid care in their communities. The dashboard enables practitioners to explore patterns of care by age, region, intensity and employment context, helping inform local decision-making, workforce planning and targeted support, rather than relying solely on broad national statistics.

In 2025, the Centre also produced influential research on kinship carers who are family members or friends who step in to raise a child when parents cannot. This work became an important reference point in policy discussions, increasing the visibility of kinship carers in decision-making processes. It helped highlight both their vital contribution to society (£4.3 billion a year) and the disparities in support (financial, practical and emotional) they receive compared to foster carers.

This report shows how high‑quality evidence is already shaping real-world change, and why informed, research‑driven decisions are crucial to building a fairer, more sustainable future for everyone who gives or receives care.

 

Towards a better future for care: Centre for Care Impact report (November 2021-April 2025)