Tag Archives: cost of living

What the new London Assembly carers report really means for unpaid carers

This week as of this blog post, the London Assembly published a major new report on unpaid carers: “London’s unpaid carers: Caring for the carers.”

I had the opportunity to contribute to this work as a carer and advocate, alongside others who shared their lived experience. Seeing those voices reflected in the final report is both encouraging and a reminder of how much still needs to change for unpaid carers in London.

👉 Read the full report:
https://www.london.gov.uk/who-we-are/what-london-assembly-does/london-assembly-work/london-assembly-publications/economy-culture-and-skills-report-londons-unpaid-carers

👉 Carers UK press release:
https://www.carersuk.org/news-and-campaigns/press-releases/new-report-from-the-london-assembly-economy-culture-and-skills-committee-calls-for-more-financial-support-for-londons-unpaid-carers/

The reality: carers are still “hidden”

One of the strongest messages in the report is that many unpaid carers are still not identified.

Too often, people caring for a partner, parent, or child don’t even realise they are classed as a “carer” which means they miss out on financial support, services, and basic recognition.

From my own experience, and what was shared at the Assembly, this is especially true for:

  • Mental health carers
  • Carers from ethnic minority backgrounds
  • Indentification of unpaid carers

If you’re not identified, I feel you don’t exist in the system.

Financial pressure is a major issue

The report possibly confirms what many carers already know:

  • Nearly 1 in 3 carers in London are living in poverty
  • Carer’s Allowance is not enough to live on
  • Many carers have to reduce work or leave employment entirely

There are positive recommendations here like reviewing Carer’s Allowance and reducing travel costs, but these need to turn into real change, not just policy discussions.

Support isn’t working as it should

Another issue raised in the report and something I spoke about is that support often feels like a “tick-box exercise”.

Carers go through assessments, but:

  • Support is limited
  • Funding is inconsistent
  • Real help (like respite care) is hard to access, especially for mental health carers, I mean what does respite actually mean for mental health unpaid carers?

Identification alone isn’t enough. I think It has to lead to meaningful, practical support.

So what needs to happen next?

The report makes some important recommendations:

  • Better identification of carers across London
  • More funding for local carer services
  • Changes to Carer’s Allowance
  • Improved workplace support
  • and a lot more, but you would have to go through the report.

But the key question now is: will this actually be implemented?

Carers don’t need more recognition alone we need action.

Final thoughts

Unpaid carers are holding up the health and social care system every single day.

This report is a very important step forward. But it should be the beginning of change not the end of the conversation.

If you are a carer, or know someone who is, I’d encourage you to read the report and share your experiences. The more visible carers are, the harder it is for the system to ignore us.

Critical Support to Carers During a Cost-of-Living

Hello fellow carers, another blog from carer activist Matthew McKenzie. A lot of my groups focus on those caring for someone with mental ill health or caring for someone going through the stages of cancer. As you probably know, caring for someone should be a role that we look towards. This does come with challenges, but most carers can even expect to go through tough times. These challenges could mean adapting to a role that could be isolating, difficult to understand and emotionally as well as physically taxing.

Being an unpaid carer means you doing what you do because you love and care for the persons health and wellbeing. It is unfortunate that the cost of living has made the unpaid caring role an increasing challenge. With reports from National carer organisations like Carers Trust and Carers UK, the cost of living has pushed carers towards a more vulnerable position. Struggling financially to make ends meet could be the last straw that breaks the back of many carers.

We all know the sad desperate story. We want a society that emphasis the importance of caring for one another. It should not be left to someone else. Health and social care are under resourced and are under increased pressure, this means the role of the carer is a crucial cog in the wheel. The NHS cannot expect to care for us all and we will have to face the fact that carers will have to be supported as a vital part of the health and social care system.

Awareness of the carer role is not enough as more discussion, debate and finally action should be taken up at the highest level. A lot of the awareness is down to education. As in educating others that they should not have to cope in caring for a difficult role. There needs to be education and research on what could make life easier for carers. Policies will need careful consideration to serve the ever increasing society of carers.

Fortunately we have a high quality platform looking to provide a debate on this issue.

Public Policy Exchange produces and delivers high quality conferences and interactive seminars which provide an invaluable interface for policy discussion, debate and networking.

Their speakers are unrivalled in calibre, ranging from Government Ministers and Senior Whitehall Officials to leading Local Authority figures and Voluntary Sector representatives.

For August the 17th they have an exciting event titled “Informal Carers:
Providing Critical Support to Carers During a Cost-of-Living Crisis and Beyond”.

There will be the following speakers, where some are from my carers network

Key Speakers

  • Wendy Chamberlain MP, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Work and Pensions & Sponsor of the Carer’s Leave Bill, now the Carer’s Leave Act 2023
  • Krista Sharp, Chief Executive of MYTIME Young Carers
  • Professor Michele Peters, Associate Professor at the Health Services Research Unit, University of Oxford (Event Chair)
  • Dr Sally Wilson, Principal Research Fellow at the Institute for Employment Studies (IES)
  • Dr Siobhan O’Dwyer, Associate Professor in Adult Social Care at the University of Birmingham
  • Richard Meade, Director of Carers Scotland and Northern Ireland
  • Zarina Camal, Carer
  • Faith Smith, Carer

With such a high range of speakers, it is a shame I cannot be present to hear thoughts and views that affect the caring role. So I am hoping those in attendance feedback to our carer network. I am glad that those who are to present at the webinar speak highly of the caring role.

If you want to hear more about this important debate affecting unpaid carers. See the link below.

https://publicpolicyexchange.co.uk/event.php?eventUID=NH17-PPE

Carers across the nation look to those who can hear our call. Carers want and policies that can support them and make a caring society.