The term “caregiver” is used more in the United States, and Canada, while “carer” is more commonly used in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia. The term “caregiver” may be prefixed with “live–in”, “family”, “spousal”, “child”, “parent”, “young” or “adult” to distinguish between different care situations, and also to distinguish them definitively from the paid version of a caregiver, a Personal Care Assistant or Personal Care Attendant (PCA).
More recently, UK has defined Carers as people who “provide unpaid care by looking after an ill, frail or disabled family member, friend or partner”.
Around half of all carers are effectively excluded from other paid employment through the heavy demands and responsibilities of caring for a vulnerable relative or friend. The term “carer” may also be used to refer to a paid, employed, contracted PCA.