She has called on the Department of Health to introduce the legal right to 5-10 days paid care leave. She has also called for a Parliamentary debate on the right to longer periods of leave to care for disabled, older and seriously or terminally ill loved ones.

Over 3 million people currently juggle work and care for older, ill or disabled relatives or loved ones.

Research by Carers UK shows that 2 million people have had to leave work in order to care for someone - the value of enabling them to continue working alongside caring would be £5.3 billion a year.

Caroline, who is patron of the Brighton Carers Centre, said: “Carers provide crucial support for loved ones – sometimes in the most difficult of circumstances. It’s absolutely essential they get the help they need and deserve.

“It cannot remain the case that people could be threatened with unemployment in order to care for their loved ones.

“Around the world, countries have addressed this issue and introduced policies and legislation to protect and support working carers. Britain is lagging behind and it needs to catch up quick.”

She added: “I’ve heard first-hand accounts from those who are carers themselves, and those being cared for by loved ones. I’m increasingly concerned that the three in five of us who act as carers at some point in our lives lack the provisions in place to juggle caring with work.

“It’s clear that care leave needs to be introduced as a matter of priority in order to allow carers to balance their work and family lives.”

The introduction of five days paid care would be particularly important in cases where a loved one is taken suddenly ill, or their condition worsens.

Emily Holzhausen, Carers UK Director of Policy, said: “Three million people in the workforce are combining work with caring for an older or disabled loved one – yet these carers have no rights to paid time off work to help balance work and their caring responsibilities. It is time that workplace rights recognise that an ageing population means that even more of us will need to care for older or disabled loved ones in the future.

“Unless families are supported to manage this difficult balance, we will see more and more people forced to give up work - bringing serious costs not just for their family finances but to the UK economy.”

To find out more about National Carers Week, please visit: www.carersweek.org

To contact Carers UK for advice go to: www.carersuk.org or phone: 0808 808 7777