Carer’s Allowance: how well does it support unpaid carers? What can we learn from recent Scottish reform?
- Date
- Thursday 23 November 2023, 13:00 - 14:00
Link Seminar - November 2023
We’ll be joined by Professor Sue Yeandle and Becky Driscoll from the Centre for Care at the University of Sheffield.
Title: Carer’s Allowance: how well does it support unpaid carers? What can we learn from recent Scottish reform?
Abstract:
Unpaid carers are under growing financial pressure. Carers UK found that a growing proportion of unpaid carers are struggling with their finances (State of Caring 2023 survey); 75% of those in receipt of Carer's Allowance are struggling with cost-of-living pressures, while almost half (46%) are cutting back on essentials, including food and heating. There has been very little change to Carer’s Allowance since it was first introduced in the UK in 1976 - almost 50 years ago - as a form of partial earnings replacement, primarily targeted at single women. It is a complex benefit, with multiple interactions with other benefits, including the state pension.
In this seminar, we will explore how Carer’s Allowance currently works, and the case for urgent reform, including:
The origins of Carer’s Allowance
- How it currently works in England and Wales
- Issues identified in research studies including: the low amount in the context of the cost-of-living crisis, the overlapping benefits rule, and difficulties combining caring with paid employment due to the earnings threshold and interaction with the national minimum wage.
- International examples of alternative approaches to financial support for carers from Australia and Ireland.
- Lessons from the recent reform of Carer’s Allowance in Scotland, and the extent to which these changes address the issues described
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