Carers allowance breaches modern slavery laws surely

I need to know where you live that it’s so easy to get carers!

MIL is disabled and requires round the clock care. She had to give up her job as a nurse and now suddenly needs full time nursing herself. Very sad.

She gets UC & PIP yes. That pays for all of her bills and food shopping. There’s a little bit left over but not much. It all goes on personal support. Definitely not enough to give another person a small income. She has no savings, social won’t help with supported living. She gets a carer twice a day and we’re expected to do the rest. Even when we’ve tried to remove all support they shrugged their shoulders. She only got the two visits after it was stated she would be unsafely discharged from hospital without the support.

She can’t even sit up in bed without help. She’s only young so potentially has another 25+ years left. Carers is an absolute pittance and someone has to do the caring because there simply isn’t enough funding for the amount of care people actually need. She would get a much better level of support if carers was more and someone could quit their job to help but instead it’s juggled between her kids and she’s unsafely left alone for long periods of time. But we have to be able to afford to live too.

I had to give up a career to raise my Ds who has Autism, Dyslexia & Anxiety.
(post Covid related Heart Failure and POTS too). It wasn't a case of 'choose that or the alternative of state care'. It isn't there to choose from. In my area, children are not diagnosed until they 'time out' into adult services (which barely exist)

I have had NO assistance since he was born in 2004. In 2016 (we moved area, finally got the elusive NHS diagnoses) I now receive Carers allowance & UC.
His PIP is about to be re-assessed. Again. If he doesnt' 'score enough points' I will lose my Carers allowance & my UC (or, it will become job seeking related)

Whatever PIP say, he will have lifelong needs (& I'm unlikely to find work at 6-11am when he is most likely alseep and I might be able to leave the house)

It is not the Govts 'fault' that he has lifelong needs.
Or mine. Or his, of course.
But I know who is paying the price. Him. And me.

I have a 2nd child who also has disabilties (born before my older child's were so obvious). As our charming exHT said: 'oh, TWO? Nae luck there then'.

I think carers allowance rate is pitiful and should at least be set at the rate of those in the support group of UC/ESA to reflect the fact they cannot work because they are caring for someone for at least 35 hours a week
As a family we are trying to keep elderly DM with dementia in her own home, but even with 5 of us tag teaming, 2 care agency visits a day, 2 days at day centre plus we fund a cleaner and social support ourselves it’s still a struggle - you are all absolute stars - I couldn’t be a full time carer

Yes I don’t understand why the limit on earning money alongside carers is so low. If I work during the hours he is at school then it takes me over the limit to get carers. But he’s at school either way so it doesn’t really make sense.

it is a Statutory route.

Local authorities need to be challenged when they shirk their statutory duties. It is illegal for an LA to refuse to do a care and support needs assessment or a carers assessment. And if a LA does one and pretends that there are no eligible needs when there are again this is illegal and can be challenged.

Whilst that is the official route, the reality is the "local authority funding" it should unlock isn't there. Certainly no free goats.

Birmingham Carers Hub do have a nice newsletter though.

Tbf I don’t work that much. I work 12 hours a week and earn £350 pm roughly. I do agree most carers couldn’t work as much as the capacity allows. I know dla isn’t salary replacement but it contributes to ds living costs. .

That £415 DLA is NOT replacement salary - it is meant for the extra costs of having a disability. It is not means tested. It would be awarded no matter how much money was being earned.

You are incredibly fortunate to be able to work part time on top of the 35 hours per week caring responsibilities that is a requirement for the award of CA.

Also, many people can’t earn the permitted £850 month because their caring responsibilities mean they can’t work at all.

Has your husband Actuallg had a care and support needs assessment done as per the Care Act 2014? Have you had a Carer’s assessment done, as per the Care Act 2014?

Mothers.

The DLA isn’t income for you though, is it? It is to be spent on the (additional) needs of the disabled child. The award letter is quite clear about that.

Absolutely agree with this. It was never meant to be a 'replacement salary'. I've had caring responsibilities for my son, who was born with a congenital condition, for the past 32 years. I had to put a hold on my career until he was living independently and receiving Direct Payments (35 hours pw, with additional informal hours from family members).

I don't understand how I haven't been discriminated against - if that double negative makes sense. I now have a well paying job. This shows I was always capable of having a well paying job. The only thing that stopped me having a well paying job was my caring responsibilities due to his disabilities. In other words, my son being disabled put me at a financial disadvantage.

His condition couldn't be detected before birth, can't form any part of a negligence / compensation case, and has been recognised in medical books for a few hundred years. It's just a 'glitch'.

Point being, the whole aim of human rights and equalities (dating from the 1940s) is that people shouldn't be discriminated against for something that's entirely beyond their control. So while Carers Allowance was never meant to be a replacement salary, there should be some sort of conversation around how the impact of being responsible for the care of a disabled person (in terms of it being a full time job) can't just be ascribed to 'Oh, unlucky, you'll just have to carry that can.'

But you can earn a full time salary and receive child benefit. You can only work 16 hours a week with carers allowance. Many people wouldn't be able to do that because of the needs of the disabled person

I'm sure you're also not saving the country billions by giving up work for a few years and looking after your own child

I’m grateful for it as it allows me to work part time I can earn up to £850 (as of this year) plus £360 per month in carers so roughly 1200 plus £415 dla and £96 child benefit totals approx £2100 which works out at roughly £13 per hour for a full time job equivalent.

Agreed but unfortunately (and I don’t agree with this or think it’s okay) I guess he could have gone into a home and you could have kept working. Unfortunately if there is an alternative (no matter how distasteful) there is one (is how I guess true government would see it).

These benefits are just that, benefits not replacements for income lost

Yes. But the point is that a huge amount of people are losing all of their income to care for relatives, usually through no choice of their own, and are saving the state a huge amount of money by doing so.

'My dh has been assessed as needing 24 hour care. He is in receipt of both PIP and ESA and we have well under the savings limit. Our local council have told us that they simply do not have enough funds to pay for 24 hour care'

Very, very few get 24hr care. A bed bound incontinent elderly person would get max 4 visits a day.

I agree it is a pittance but the point is it isn't a salary in the same way £400 a month PIP won't cover all a disabled person's costs or £400 a month esa isn't the same as a monthly salary. These benefits are just that, benefits not replacements for income lost.

Well said Tigerag! I chose to have my kids, planned for it financially etc and knew those pre school years wouldn't last forever. I knew my kids would be grown up and independent one day, I could be faced with caring for my dh for another 30 years plus.

I'd like to know how I'm supposed to fit in a part time job while I'm caring for dh 24 hours a day. Perhaps during my respite time which is an hour a day if I'm lucky. Don't quite know how I'd find someone to employ me for that amount of time, logistics of it etc. Carers Allowance isn't a "top up" for us unfortunately, it's a main part of our income.

Parents choose to have children. Do you really think a person would want to give up their job to look after a relative for a pittance? The parents can plan and save for their child. How on earth do you do that for a disabled person?

I follow a lady on X who is a carer to her disabled child. She's talked a few times about having to give up a well paid job and now gets the pittance that is carers allowance

If you told them you were no longer providing care one day they wouldn’t just leave him though? He’d be found a place in a residential facility probably costing in excess of 100k a year. They are gambling thst many families will keep going with minimal support.

But some people want to look after their own dc. Some give up work to do so.

The point is carers allowance isn't supposed to pay for full time care in the same way child benefit doesn't pay for childcare. They are benefits not salaries.

You can claim up to 85% of your childcare costs.

Don't understand why you're comparing a short term choice to something that for most people isn't short term and certainly isn't a choice

I know people who can't work due to the cared for persons needs. The £320 per month is hardly a bonus. It's less than job seekers

Parents give up work to look after their dc, do you think the £80 a month child benefit compensates for lost salary? Of course it doesn't.
CA is a benefit, it isn't a salary.
Many people see the £320 a month as a part time salary top up.