To think Carer's Allowance is a fucking disgrace?

[BoobsOnTheMoon]

Not only is it an absolute pittance of £76 a week considering you need to be providing care to a disabled person for at least 35 hours a week to claim it in the first place.

BUT you also can't claim if you earn more than £139 a week.

AND if you claim low income benefits (ie UC), the Carer's Allowance is counted as income and taken off your entitlement £ for £.

It's just so insulting. People giving up their lives and careers to care for a disabled family member deserve better than this.

(Just feeling a bit down about the fact I will probably be poor until I die, even if my disabled child manages to leave home one day I'll be at least 50 by then with no prospects for earning decent money or building any sort of security for my own old age)

Also the higher PIP daily living component is £101.75 per week Again, not going to buy 35 hours of care a week as well as meet all the other extra costs of being disabled.

Cross pist with ThomasWasTortured who set it all out better than me!

Cross post🙄. Time for bed I think!

DLA/PIP isn't enough to pay for full-time care. Plus, who is going to organise and manage that for them when their current carer can no longer care for them because they have to go get a job?

I think many do when you factor in DLA, PIP. I don't think anyone in their right mind believes you could give 35hrs earth of care for that amount. I just don't understand why any money at all is being paid to the carer with no 'quality checks' as to what care they're giving.

I'm not saying PIP or DLA alone is enough but many disabled people get packages that include addition money to pay for carers.
People are allocated a social worker. They usually sort carers for you if you're unable to do it yourself. I feel if you're giving 35hrs worth of care it should be monitored in some way and you should be paid for your time from the disabled persons benefits. I don't the CA should exist. Healthcare is 'free' at the moment so it's mostly social care.

^ This

For those who are providing genuine care, they need proper remuneration.

Then you have people who claim it whilst working full time as self employed hairdressers. Yes, I know someone. They provide zero care and I mean zero. The disabled person can do everything for themselves, they go out, drive, clean, cook and garden. Totally self sufficient.

The low rate of CA directly impacts healthcare for all of us. The backlogs at A&E are in large part caused by lack of beds. Beds are not being freed up because people who require care at home can't be discharged if there isn't adequate care for them. They may have a spouse/child/parent who could provide this care, but who can't support them on £76 a week. That person has to work full time. So they have to wait for a care package to be put in place - they stay in hospital - other unwell people can't use that bed. It's costing the NHS a fortune, it's putting lives at risk because social workers are so stretched with trying to arrange care packages they can't put basic safeguards in place for people who need them. Then you get people having accidents in the home because there was no social worker out to do an assessment - they end up in hospital and have to wait for a care package.

Substantially increasing carers allowance would see a reduction in pressures on the NHS and the social care system (for the two go hand in hand) would be better for society, enable much better patient care and would have cost saving benefits as the need for care packages and residential care home places would be reduced.

35 hours of care MINIMIM. Many disabled people need 24 hour care. "Care" doesn't just mean physical care. It can mean constant supervision because it is not safe to be left alone. The actual care services are on their knees. There is already not enough money in the system to provide adequate care for people, never mind trying to replace what unpaid carers do with paid services.

A carer on minimum wage for 35 hours a week would cost over £350. That's roughly £1500 a month. You think disabled people who aren't working can afford that? Along with all the other expenses that come with their disabilities. Now imagine what 24-hour care would cost. And who is supposed to be ensuring the carers are coming? Social workers don't make daily calls to check-in. You're lucky if you see one at all beyond the initial meeting.

Yes, unpaid carers should be paid better for the pretty much free care they provide. No, it shouldn't come out of the DLA/PIP.

Then you have people who claim it whilst working full time as self employed hairdressers. Yes, I know someone. They provide zero care and I mean zero. The disabled person can do everything for themselves, they go out, drive, clean, cook and garden. Totally self sufficient

It always amazes me how the benefit cheats known to Mumsnetters are so open and honest when it comes to revealing the details of their cheating.

HMRC and DWP data share, btw. So the hairdresser will get caught at some point.

They should apply for Attendance Allowance, that's the one you can get after retirement age.

If you care for somebody 36 hours a week and receive £76, that's £2.11 per hour.

If you care for somebody 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, that's 45p per hour.

Anyone who voted this thread as 'unreasonable' ought to just think about that for a moment.

And use what money to pay for the other extra costs of being disabled?

For those saying the money should go to the disabled person so they can pay carers.... Do you know how many hours of care £76 would buy you? Not very many. Maybe 5 or 6 if you employ someone directly, more like 3 if you go through an agency.

And whoever mention that claiming Carers Allowance means you get the Carers Element on your UC - yes, but the Carers Allowance is taken off your entitlement and then the Carers Element is added at a lower rate (£184 a month whereas Carers Allowance is about £330 a month). So no, you aren't really gaining much and you certainly aren't seeing even the full £76 a week!

24hr care at NMW is circa £6,800 a month. Or £82,000 a year. Add into that rent/mortgage/food/clothes/equipment costs/utility bills/prescription costs etc.

Do you really think people are regularly being given benefits packages that pay for this?! And then having the LA provide them with a social worker who has the time to organise their care?!

I get that care comes in many guises. My point is that if a person isn't safe to be left alone then surely they need 24hr care so eg I have a friend who works for Mencap in a 'cluster' home, so 4 LD disabled people sharing a home. There's a member of staff on hand all the time 24/7. That's paid for by the state and deductions are made from their benefits. I also know elderly/ill people needing care at home. Maybe not 24/7 but considerable hours. Again the nursing care they recieve is paid for by the state.
I don't think someone popping in to grandma's every day to see if she needs anything should be paid or eg helping that person take a bath/shower. If they're unable to do the basics safely alone then the state should provide carers.

I don't think someone popping in to grandma's every day to see if she needs anything should be paid or eg helping that person take a bath/shower. If they're unable to do the basics safely alone then the state should provide carers

Given that the cared for person needs to be in receipt of one of the following:

Personal Independence Payment - daily living component
Disability Living Allowance - the middle or highest care rate
Attendance Allowance
Constant Attendance Allowance at or above the normal maximum rate with an Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
Constant Attendance Allowance at the basic (full day) rate with a War Disablement Pension
Armed Forces Independence Payment
Child Disability Payment - the middle or highest care rate
Adult Disability Payment - daily living component at the standard or enhanced rate

It is very likely that they need more care than help with shopping or paying bills. Also, not being able to safely shower or bathe alone counts as "unable to do the basics", surely?

The more I read on this thread, the more I realise that some people have not a clue about what it is like to be an unpaid carer. I sincerely hope none of you ever find out.

i agree IClaudine.
JudgeRudy, have you ever had to care for someone with complex needs ?
do you realise how much extra costs are involved in just daily living eg constant electricity use for beds, air mattress, hoist, maybe wheelchair, riser recliner chair, extra heating or fan, extra laundry, and bedding, continence supplies, special diets and preparation, blending of food, special cups to be able to hold, clothing that is non-standard, etc.
and then there are the mental tasks, trying to book hosp transport, advocating to social workers, district nurses, OTs, physios, GPs, podiatrist, diabetic eye screening, (return to trying to book hosp transport, and get them to actually turn up in time, another missed appt, re-booking..).
if you ever manager to get the person there, going with them to hosp appts, co-ordinating prescriptions, calling out of hours nhs, begging for antbx for recurrent infections, to avoid hosp admissions, where most of the specific care needs are neglected, leading to further deterioration...
now even if the council provided professional careworkers, do you think they would do any of this.
could they. how many clients do they rush around to.
many of them have only basic english.
and anyway they wouldn't have the background knowledge of the client to do all this liaising.
they do mostly physical tasks, washing, dressing, continence care, maybe basic food prep.
so who does it.. ?
oh yes, those layabouts, shirking employment.

People popping into grandma once a day aren’t getting carers allowance- you have to be providing at least 35 hours a week care. Ffs.

If they're unable to do the basics safely alone then the state should provide carers.

And presumably pay these carers a decent wage?… so why not just pay the people already doing the caring a decent wage instead of a piss poor carers allowance?!

No mortgage help and UC is less than £350 for a single person.

It's not possible to live.

Yes, I'm happy for those people to be paid but I think if they're being paid there should be some sort of auditing. So there's a care need, a relative has said they'll meet that need and they're able to demonstrate they are carrying out those duties to a minimum level. No problem with that, but if you're being paid it should be monitored.

And who exactly is going to do that monitoring and who will fund it? It isn’t workable.

And don't suggest social workers because we don't have enough of them, as it is. I've lost track of the conveyor belt of different ones I've seen over the past 3 years just to be able to access the 3 hours a week of outreach care (ie someonr takes him for a walk and our heads stop spinning for a bit) we've been getting for Ds2 for just over half a year.

Auditing just would not be possible or effective. How would it work? On the spot unannounced checks?

The Social Care system can't even even prperlymonitor the work of professional carers and care homes. Look at the abuse that has gone on. Where would the resources come from to audit and monitor the 1.3 million unpaid carers who recieve CA?