You are right to praise Kate Garraway for shedding light on the financial, physical and emotional toll of life as an unpaid caregiver (Editorial, March 27). The government still does not provide nearly enough support to the millions of people – including a million children – who care for their loved ones without pay every day, saving the state £160 billion a year.
Our collective failure to get social care right has locked millions of unpaid carers into entrenched poverty. Research from the Carers Trust shows that almost two-thirds of unpaid carers have cut back on paid work or left their jobs because of their role in care, while Carers Allowance remains the lowest benefit of its kind, with such strict criteria that many unpaid carers informal caregivers cannot claim it. Meanwhile, the UK Social Attitudes Survey shows public satisfaction with the system is at its lowest level, with half of those dissatisfied citing the lack of support for unpaid carers.
The impact of our broken welfare system on large parts of the electorate should be one of the defining issues of the general election. Instead, it risks being ignored. In the meantime, millions of Kate Garraways are counting the daily costs.
Kirsty McHugh
CEO, Carers Trust
Your editorial paints a depressing picture of the negative light in which healthcare providers are seen, and briefly mentions the issue of financial difficulties. I write as the life partner of someone with a long-term mental illness. Our bond is very strong, but financial problems are a real concern for us.
People may not be aware that when a person is covered by the Mental Health Act, as my partner has been on several occasions, any benefits their partner receives as a result of caring for that person automatically stops, which in our case means that there is no universal credit. or carer’s allowance – a drop in income of more than £700 per month.
For couples like us, this is simply untenable, even though I run my own business and am currently studying for postgraduate qualifications. Perhaps our shadow chancellor could address this issue when Labor forms the next government?
Name and address provided
I don’t dispute your editorial view that healthcare providers are getting a raw deal. You call them “virtually invisible in our public conversation.” However, people with disabilities themselves are completely invisible and are now rarely involved in debates or given the opportunity to express views and opinions on issues that directly affect their lives.
Frances Ryan of The Guardian regularly highlights in her articles the desperate situations that people with disabilities find themselves in due to a lack of services that prevent them from exercising their right to live independently. Politically, disability issues have now been removed from the Minister for Equalities’ remit, meaning people with disabilities no longer have a dedicated parliamentary champion.
This lack of inclusion in the public/political debate is becoming increasingly worrying, especially as the campaign for assisted dying legislation gathers pace. As public services decline and pressure on disabled people, including myself, increases, I urgently propose that a special committee on disability rights be re-established, led by people with disabilities, to safeguard our existence and protect our hard-won human and civil rights. to live independently.
Jane Nation
London