CARING for a disabled loved one must be one of the most challenging tasks there is, and there are in excess of half a million carers in the south of England with nearly 150,000 carers in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

But did your readers know that six out of 10 of all carers are women? Why are there so many more female than male carers?

I work for the charity Revitalise. We run the Netley Waterside House centre in Southampton, which provides respite holidays for disabled people and carers from the region and beyond, and we did some research.

In our survey, we found that eight out of 10 female carers thought that women felt pressured into the role of carer on account of their gender. What’s more, nine out of 10 felt there was an expectation in families and society that women take on the role of carer.

But what’s surprising is that eight out of 10 women and nine out of 10 men agreed that men are just as good at caring as women! So what is going on?

We think it’s because there is a widely-held view in society that caring is somehow ‘women’s work’– a task that a woman can do better than a man.

Well, there are about 2.65 million male carers in the UK who would strongly disagree. So isn’t it high time we got rid of such lazy stereotypes?

Because if women are feeling unfairly pressured into giving up their careers, hopes and plans to become carers solely because of their gender, then we think that is quite wrong.

At Revitalise we think much more needs to be done to support unpaid family carers across the board – and that includes tackling this perceived issue of gender bias.

For more information call 0303 303 0145 or visit www.revitalise.org.uk.

COLIN BROOK Revitalise