Carers allowance breaches modern slavery laws surely

There's neither the reality or even a cultural expectation of family support now.
(in my example: my parents are dead, I have no siblings. My exH and I are Divorced. I have no local support, formal or informal. I'm a Carer 24/7)

I just took my 20 y/o away for a day to a pool 'resort'. Whilst there he was too ill to spend any time in the pool or walk around much. After the 4th hour of repeated monotopic-ing on the same news item (which makes him anxious) I, for the 1st time ever, felt I could 'take no more'. I left him in a public area for 5mins whilst I 'used the loo' (it was safe, plenty folk around, he was safe). I walked towards the loo & briefly, for the 1st time ever) wondered if I went out the entrance doors I could just call a taxi and 'run away.' Then I went into my cubicle in the loos, cried for a bit, came out, washed my face and went back to him & listened some more. I felt really ashamed and I hope he will never know.

The thing is I CANNOT leave him : there is no one else. He will always be vulnerable and always need care. I don't know what will happen when I die - I am 58 & it terrifies me & LA care, even if it could be accessed, would terrify him.
Whilst dealing with this, I need to battle the NHS for care, battle PIP for accurate asssessments, battle the DWP for my Carer's allowance etc. It's REALLY hard.

(puts tiny violin away to make lunch)

It's this. Carers allowance will not be the only benefit paid to any household, it will be on top of disability benefits/PIP.

Lots of people claiming carers allowance are retired spouses claiming it for caring for their husband/wife. Should they be paid a full time salary for this on top of state pension and other benefits?

Likewise many more are claiming it for children they care for where they are also in receipt of disability benefit payments for that child.

Its not as simple as saying it should be paid as a minimum wage per hour.

Caring for loved ones won't always be paid. We aren't paid a caring allowance for caring for our pre school age children although having them often prevents working unless you pay for expensive childcare.

We are currently looking into continuing health care. There is a possibility that if the PIP changes go through dh could lose PIP and I would lose carers allowance as he never gets awarded 4 points in any one descriptor. I should have challenged this in the past but have been frightened they would remove his award completely, you hear such horror stories about PIP. We've even had a dwp assessor visit him at home last year who assessed him as needing more support. The DWP themselves sent her yet he still wasn't awarded more points in his review a few months later. It's OK people saying challenge this and challenge that but sometimes you just don't have the energy.

Then you need to read again.

I’m not assuming anything, just going by the things you have written on this post. Your posts don’t seem to show much empathy for those who cannot or aren’t able to challenge the LA when things are below par.

To get UC you need to be looking for a job, or in one.

I thought it was pretty obvious. Because it would be unsustainable for the tax payers to pay all carers the hours as you mention your post, £2k a week? Then it involves monitoring like other benefits who is actually looking after them these amount of hours, who is taking the piss etc...

Why are you assuming I don’t know that?

Not everyone will.

But having access to the right information and support and knowing there are routes is surely important

That’s how you’re choosing to interpret it.

It shouldn’t be this way - it’s not ok - people shouldn’t have to fight so hard when facing far bigger mountains than your average person. But it’s all there is.

And some people have no idea that Actually they DO have rights and what those rights are.

if you choose to read it as blaming people - go ahead. I can’t stop you.

You can only claim CA if someone is revising PIP of DLA on at least middle rate care/standard care. The numbers couldn't suddenly explode and it is only right to pay carers who provide endless hours of caring with a decent wage.

Do you know what will happen once the disability cuts kick in? Many people will lose PIP, by extension loads of people claiming carers and providing care will lose carers. Galores of people are expected to ask social services to step in when PIP and carers are withdrawn. Carers is a pittance. Instead of paying carers allowance, the LA will have to fund residential settings to the tune of thousands. week. Now that will cost.

On a side note, unpaid carers, including those on CA save the state an estimated 183 billion a year. They do not cost the state money - they save the government a monumental amount. your post is so incredibly stupid, difficult to know where to argue with so much ignorance.

I agree, it’s not as easy as saying ‘just challenge them’

you need to appreciate that it’s not the reality for everyone though. Just because you took them on and won, not everybody can. And they shouldn’t have to. I have challenged the LA many times, and gone all the way like you did, and didn’t win. They just blamed/claimed spending cuts.

You probably aren't aware quite how your post reads that your blaming the disabled and their carers for their own situation. A little like an A&E doctor saying "Why didn't you see your GP ?"

The trouble is, if they paid carers the equivalent of minimum wage, a lot of people on low wages who have caring responsibilities would quit their jobs to become fulltime carers. Where's the money coming from? If caring became a means of earning a living then there would be a big uptick in the number of carers and in the number of people who needed care.

I’ve not idea what your DH’s condition is but have you looked into continuing health care? It will depend on whether he has a primary health care need.

https://beaconchc.co.uk/how-we-can-help/free-information-and-advice-on-nhs-continuing-healthcare/

If yhd council have supported a 24/7 care assessment perhaps they can support you to go through the CHC process - I know of councils that have done so and helped people to get CHC funding.

People who need 24/7 support, often lifelong or for decades do not need a 'basic' level of support. Nobody should be forced to give up their job, their livelihood and as in many cases their lifes all together to provide 24/7 cars for year and years without break and without financial compensation. It's absolutely not comparable to bringing up (non disabled) children. These children will become more independent over the years, there are nurseries, schools, wrap around childcare, holiday clubs. All these things still enable a parent to work. You cannot compare that in the least to proving extensive long-term care for a disabled family member, esp without the access to breaks/respite

Bitchesbelike It's not a daft question, we do claim UC, PIP, Carers Allowance and he's in the Support Group for Contributions based ESA. He's also had a social care assessment and received direct payments to pay for respite care. I have a carers assessment carried out annually and dh has been assessed as needing 24 hour support. His older brother has the same condition and he is now a permanent resident in a local hospital paid for by (I presume) social services). My dh wants to live at home with me and I want him at home with me. He gets provided with some carers from our council and I get respite care. However, we have been told that there is not council funding to provide him with the full 24 hours care at home.

Hi; sorry if this is a daft question, but are you not also entitled to universal credit to bring your income up to a minimum standard?

The key word there is ‘should’.

Agree its a low amount.

Hence No one should give up a job or cut down their hours, to be a carer without v careful consideration. Social services should step in , if the person needs more care...

It would be quite a lot more scary if they were pushing assisted dying as an alternate to care funding.

I don't think the idea that families have obligations should preclude helping people without families. We have a tendency sometimes to be upset if someone else is getting more help than we are, but I am not sure society can afford to say they will support everyone to the same degree when they have other sources to draw on, including in terms of human connection. Needing more help shouldn't be something shaming or a problem, I don't see how we can realistically say that everyone's needs can be flattened out.

Yes. I suspect this is going to become more and more of a problem in many ways. I sometimes wonder if government, in their eagerness to boost GDP, really thought about what would happen when it became necessary for families to have two incomes.

I'm disabled. I'm also the last leaf on the family tree. When my parents die, I'll have no living relatives. The only people who will care about me are those who are paid to. Thats it.

This being a reality with no legal avenues for assisted dying (yet!) is terrifying.

I think at a basic level it's because it's seen as part of our duty as family members to care for those who need it, rather the same way we care for children.

The state helps by giving top ups for these things but it's not seen as a salary as such.

I have three disabled kids;I got carers allowance.

I work 16 hours a week as that’s all I can get child care for.

Anyway with the bank holidays we’ve just I got a small uplift in my pay and now I’ve had my carers allowance stopped and for the sake of the additional £88 I earned that want me to pay them back £799.

I’m completely fucked financially now.

I’m still responsible for caring for my kids for the other 128 hours a week I’m not at work.