Carers Allowance 50 Years On: A Time to Reflect or Reform?

First introduced as Invalid Care Allowance in 1976 (it was thankfully renamed Carers Allowance in 2003), Carers Allowance has been a cornerstone of financial support for carers. At the time, it was groundbreaking; the first time the role of carers was acknowledged within the welfare state and the impact that carers have. It’s estimated that carers save the UK economy around £184 billion per year. For context, that is only a little less than the entire NHS budget.

Unfortunately, in comparison to this saving, the UK invests relatively little in its carers. Carers Allowance is worth a flat rate of £86.45 per week. Given that one of its criteria is to be caring 35 hours per week, it works out as an hourly rate of just £2.47.

New research ‘Taking Care of Mum and Dad’ which surveyed 1000 unpaid carers, found that just 3 in 10 believe Carers Allowance is sufficient to live on. 10 percent had never heard of Carers Allowance, while 20% had heard of the benefit, but where unsure what it was. 60 percent said it was either ‘complicated’ or ‘very complicated.’

The idea that the welfare system is complex is a common refrain we hear time and again. In the case of carers, it’s not just complex, it’s insufficient.

The complexity of Carers Allowance is highlighted by the overpayment scandal that has blighted the DWP for years now and severely damaged its reputation in how it treats carers. When someone breaches the ‘earnings threshold’ of £204pw on Carers Allowance, they are, strictly speaking, no longer entitled to it. In many cases, the DWP/HMRC were receiving real-time notifications of breaches, but doing nothing, resulting in carers being overpaid and chased for those overpayments. Those carers that we so quickly say ‘thank you’ to were too often scapegoated. In April, the government confirmed that over 200,000 cases where carers were affected by ‘confusing’ government guidance would have their cases reviews and, potentially, debts cancelled. We commend the government for taking this step unequivocally, but how can we expect carers to rely on a system that seems fundamentally incapable of dealing with the reality of caring.

As recently as last month, the DWP were criticized for contacting a carer’s employer to arrange for a deduction on her salary to repay an overpayment of Carers Element of Universal Credit (actually created in error by the DWP anyhow) that she had in fact paid back, in full, four years previously.

Following the Sayce Review into the Carers Allowance overpayment scandal, it was noted that were ‘longstanding and unacceptable systemic problems with leadership’ at the DWP. Indeed, one former employee was criticized for posting on an internal DWP blogpage that he believed that ‘claimant failures’ were what led to the overpayment scandal rather than the action (or lack of action, one might say) of the DWP.

The landscape of care has fundamentally changed since Carers Allowance was introduced in 1976, but unpaid carers are still the backbone of the care system, and they still deserve more than just a ‘thank you.’ Until the system has finally caught up to that reality and treats carers with the respect and support they deserve, this 50 years since the introduction of Carers Allowance can’t just be a mark of how far we’ve come, but how far we’ve got to go.

Society Matters are proud to say we run a half-day CPD-accredited course on Caring and Carers Matters, where we discuss the different types of support available to help carers, whether that’s in respect of the welfare benefit system, social care, housing or employment.