As we live longer, many of us will need support in our old age. But few of us know how much an hour of homecare costs, or the fees charged in residential and nursing homes, and whether the local council will help foot the bill.
This guide can help you understand the social care system for people aged 65 and over, as well as the costs involved, wherever you live in the UK.
Home care
What is home care?
You stay in your own home while getting help with everyday tasks such as washing, dressing and eating.
How your council helps with care
EXPLAINER TITLE
average amount of care provided per week, by your council
average paid per hour by your council, 2014-15
average paid per hour in your region if you pay for your own care, 2016
Residential care
What is residential care?
You live in a care home that provides round-the-clock support with everyday tasks.
How your council helps with care
Average contribution per week
Paying for yourself
TBC pay for their own care
Nursing home care
What is nursing home care?
You live in a care home which provides round-the-clock support for everyday tasks and nursing care. Depending on your medical needs, the NHS may contribute to your costs.
How your council helps with care
Average contribution per week
Paying for yourself
TBC pay for their own care
Who gets help?
How is your contribution decided?
Your home
Savings, investments and income are assessed, along with the value of your home - unless you or a close relative live there.
Will I have anything left?
Want to know more?
Around the UK
- How the care system works across the UK
- The alternatives to care homes and home help
- Is it time for the NHS to do more?
The future of care
- How England's cap on care costs will work
- Find out how the cap could affect you
- Age UK
- Independent Age
- NHS Choices care and support pages
Useful links
Where did the data for the project come from?
A variety of different sources were used. In England NHS Digital supplied the data on council-funded care home and nursing home places. The United Kingdom Homecare Association, devolved governments and healthcare analysts LaingBuisson were the sources for some of the figures relating to self-funded care, while BBC freedom of information requests to local councils have been used to find a lot of the other data.
How accurate are the figures for home care?
The figures showing the number of hours of care and the cost of that care are averages. As such they can only give an indication of the hours of care available as individual circumstances will vary.
How accurate are the figures for residential care and nursing homes?
The figures showing a weekly breakdown for residential care and nursing home care are averages. As such they can only offer an indication of the costs people may face, as individual circumstances can be very different from the average findings for the group as a whole, particularly if someone has complex care needs or dementia.
How were those figures calculated?
The figures that offer a weekly cost breakdown for residential care and nursing home care for England are taken from NHS Digital. Data from freedom of information requests was used for the rest of the UK. For England, the total amount of money contributed by each council's population towards their care was calculated as a proportion of the total care budget. Once the proportion was worked out, it was then used to create a weekly figure in pounds and pence to show how much a council contributes to each person's cost of care compared with the contributions paid by the people using the service. This figure was based on the unit cost information supplied by each council to NHS Digital. The same method was used for the rest of the UK, but the data was sourced from individual councils through freedom of information requests.
Why are some of the figures missing for my area?
Data has not been available in full for all the council areas in the UK. This is because much of the data has been collected through freedom of information requests and not all councils were able to reply.
Credits
Produced by Alison Holt, Nick Triggle and John Walton. Design and development by Charlotte Thornton, Chris Ashton, Richard Bangay, Luke Ewer and Joe Reed. Freedom of information research by Katie Langton and George Greenwood.