How much would a care home cost you? What you need to know about long-term care funding
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Later life care is a need some of us may ultimately face and there is little that can be done to avoid being one of the people the expensive bills befall. For those who do get dealt the hand of needing care, more often than not financial responsibility falls on them, with data from care home review site Carehome.co.uk revealing many as 66 per cent of care seekers in the UK are self-funding.
![[South West England has the most expensive care costs on average, at £1,419 per week]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/13/13/92793877-14174157-South_West_England_has_the_most_expensive_care_costs_on_average_-a-3_1734098061017.jpg)
In fact, as few as 16 per cent reported that they were able to access local authority funding. In Scotland, almost a third, 29 per cent, have their care costs funded by the state. Will Donnelly, chief executive and co-founder of care home comparison firm Lottie.org, said: 'With the cost of care rising by 8 per cent in the last 12 months, families are under increasing financial and emotional pressure. According to Lottie's insights into the state of care, 7 in 10 families struggle to afford elderly care.'.
With the cost of care at an all-time high, more people having to self-fund, and a threshold for help that has not been increased since 2011, the number of people forced to pay out tens of thousands in later life is on the rise. Later life care: Two thirds of those looking for care in the UK fund it themselves.
Overall care costs are growing as more people need care for longer periods of time. Some of this is down to longevity combining with illness or frailty in older age. People are increasingly living longer lives thanks to medical advances but they may not be able to look after themselves alone. Meanwhile, cases of dementia are rising – forecast to climb to 78million people worldwide by 2030, according to WHO data, from 55million people in 2019.
