Almost two-thirds of these lockdown “sandwich carers” were women, according to the ONS study, with 40 as the average age of a sandwich carer of any gender.
Although assisting others outside the home suggests a greater sense of social cohesion, the ONS report found that as more people took on caring responsibilities, a higher proportion of adults reported poor mental health.
People who identify as women reported larger increases in poor mental health than men across the board - and those with extra external caring responsibilities reported the largest.
Women who provided help outside the household and said they had poor mental health rose from 24 per cent in 2017-18 to 37 per cent in April 2020.
A decline in good mental health was also reported by women without these extra responsibilities during lockdown.
Mental health has suffered as a result of lockdown
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The number of women surveyed reporting poor mental health who said they were not providing extra support outside the house rose from 23 per cent to 35 per cent.
The analysis also found that although a higher proportion of people helping others felt useful compared with the general population, this group was also more likely to be feeling constantly under strain and losing more sleep than usual.
The wide-ranging study also revealed what people with caring responsibilities are doing to relax and create their own support networks.
It found 55 per cent were using watching films or streaming TV programmes to relax, and 51 per cent turning to exercise for an endorphin release.
A convincing 76 per cent said that family and friends were helping them to cope with the situation.
