Report highlights plight of carers
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The report also revealed 35 per cent of carers suffer a disability themselves. (Reuters: Christian Hartmann, file photo)
Australia's 2.5 million carers sleep less and do more housework than the rest of the community.
That is one of the findings of a Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) study of people looking after someone at home.
The Bureau's Michelle Ducat says one third blame the demands of caring for a strain on their marriages.
"Some carers are reporting that it actually brings them very close to their spouse or the person they're caring for and some are reporting that they're actually very weary and tired," she said,
"Part of that is related to how long that caring role is and the intensity of the caring role as well."
The report has also revealed 35 per cent of carers suffer a disability themselves.
Ms Ducat says the majority of carers are women except in the over 70 age group.
"Most older men are still living with a partner so they actually have a partner that they're caring for whereas most older women are widowed," she said.
"Some of the older primary carers had been caring for 15 years or more. That is a really big job to take on."
There are 250,000 carers aged between 15 and 24.
The study found they are less likely to finish high school and that may affect their employment opportunities.
The study also found almost half live in low income households.
