Carers Allowance should be increased

[Noras]

Recent events on Mumsnet has made me even more upset about continuing to be a carer for my adult son. There are many carers out there doing the job voluntarily. Their kids are adult and there is no duty of care owned by adults. Moreover there is no asset against which the state can claim against for social care. The decision to care for our off spring is a fervent belief this is best for the time being.

Whilst my son lives at home I get £81 carers allowance a week. If my son lived in supported living I would

Be able to charge £15 per hour carers rate (including holiday and pension).

Be free to choose my hours and never have to worry about cover to go out - that is the States duty of care

Can opt never to have to complete a pip form or universal credit form again - leave it to another carer!

So the push is for me to want my son either on social housing or supported living

Caring duties include

Sourcing and recruiting PA / interview / draft advert and check applicants etc

Send out contracts to PA’s

Chase and send in timesheets

Train PA on how to deal with DS

Draft comments and arrange attendance at EHCP reviews. Chase updated EHCP and check it for amendments and liaise with council etc

Apply for transport for college - if needs be advocate. Liaise college and transport and taxi driver for changes of which there are many
Weekly exchanges of chase up and changes

apply for Pip - complete lengthy form. Be available for interview and conduct interview - DS clearly can’t

Universal credit - apply - argue legal points if necessary - administer funds - set up bank account for DS and administer it via a monintjon or poa

Care

Take for hairdressing appointments
Cut finger and toe nails
Hold tissue and encourage to blow nose as required
prompt shaving and if needs be husband shaves him
grapple with him and insist clothes are changed
laundry
take to dentist and keep eye on teeth cleaning
laundry
clear blocked toilet
prompt meds when constipated or asthmatic and hands on care with cold as he can’t blow nose

Supervision

Stop overeating and monitor diet
Stop crazy eating eg microwaved salad or eating microwaved tuna and sweetcorn at midnight
check his desire to experiment in kitchen
discuss and practice food cookery and what he will do at residential
Ensure healthy diet because that would not otherwise occur
Stop him cutting bread rolls whilst in hand
shopping/ clothing

do all clothes shopping
check wardrobe periodically to ensure shoes js clothes all fit still - he cannot seem to vocalise that need well

Toileting

Be on hand to unblock toilet and clean mess

Activities

Organise all his activities to encourage socialisation eg disabled group or drama group - this includes research for holiday activities

Get debrief form Pa re activity

Liaise with social groups eg one council one needs to know if taxi required weekly etc

Receive feedback form groups re how he is doing/ accessing community

Help with social disabled group so organise an event or two ( to make these things happen)

Take to the gym to swimming to maintain health - this involves micromanagement in say swimming pool

Take out on bus to train and persevere with this
Make him experience busy bus times

Train how to do shopping and wait for change

math skills - ongoing - mental maths an issue due to lack of working memory on 2 and 4 percentile - yet he can do algebra and has a gcse!

Try to train to use Apple Watch as he won’t wear a tracker ( we bought it for him with our own money!)

training - social interaction eg on dog walk or in shops etc

Also keep up to date on all learning activity opportunities and be excellent welfare / eduction lawyers advocates

Finally be there every evening and night due to his anxieties and vulnerabilities unless relieved by PA or activities so I CAN HAVE A GLASS OF WINE

Pay rate £81 per week

as opposed to several hundred for fewer hours work and shared load in supported living / social housing

This has somewhat shaped my view as I’m sure they weren’t alone in gaming the system.

They weren’t gaming the system- they were acting within the rules.

Some people feel the elderly and disabled are first and foremost the responsibility of their family, and the state is a lesser partner with a lesser contribution.

People can think what they like- the fact is legally families are not required to care for disabled adults, therefore if they don’t then the state would have to do it. This is why so many beds in hospitals are taken by elderly people for example- their families can’t or won’t assume the responsibility.

Depends though doesnt it. I mean people could always take their cared for to the nearest Job Centres or A&E departments and leave them there. I believe its called granny dumping in the US

And we seem to have been eager to emulate the US in many other ways..........

So no answer then

Gotcha

I do it for two of my children and obviously only get carers allowance for one
But
They are my children who need me so i don't feel the need to list everything i have to do for them!
I love them unconditionally just like I love my neurotypical child 🤷‍♀️

Why is you loving your children relevant? Do you think that parent carers who want fair remuneration for the work they do don’t love their children?

I also don't fall in line with arguing that my Caring responsiblities save the state a lot of money if I downed tools and walk off the job because inevitably my caring is over once I die.

It's the bit of my life that I have left before I die that I'm worried about, endeavouring to make sure that DS will be ok after I'm gone. I'm early 60s and have to stay motivated, poor, still trying to earn a bit here and there (all declared) and caring til I'm 67, then at least the State Pension will kick in, or I die or become incapacitated before then.

Tell me I deserve this and if so how I can make it better?

There are several threads running on MN at the moment about the carers allowance scandal and how family carers are treated. The NHS workers are conspicuous by their abscence. Its like tumbleweed. Yet post a thread about how can we improve the NHS and its like a klaxon has gone off and the health workers on here (not all of them but a good amount of them) are lining up to patient blame and moan about how the families of patients arent doing enough yet post a thread about how family carers are being treated re CA and they couldnt give less of a shit!
despite the support they got during the strikes. Would that be reciprocated if family carers went on strike?!

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/amibeing_unreasonable/5048517-to-bring-your-attention-to-the-carers-benefit-fraud-scandal?page=1

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/chat/5045433-carers-allowance-and-benefit-fraud?reply=134540759

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/amibeing_unreasonable/5049094-to-think-the-carers-allowance-scandal-shows-the-uncaringness-of-the-dwp#:~:text=The%20pressure%20on%20the%20prime,a%20few%20pounds%20a%20week. These threads are nowhere near as long as the NHS ones are either

You don’t deserve it. Lots of people don’t deserve the lives they have but it isn’t necessarily the state’s responsibility to make that right.

My life is less than it should have been. Chronic illness means I earn a quarter now of what I earned 10 years ago. This affects my long term prospects until I die. I don’t think the state needs to make up for that though.

That’s irrelevant- the state has the legal responsibility to care for disabled adults. Families don’t. The government aren’t being asked to ‘make up’ for anything, they are being asked to provide fair remuneration for someone else taking on their duty.

Fundamentally you and I aren’t going to agree. You think the state has primary responsibility and I think the family does.

Even though the state has a legal responsibility for caring for a disabled adult, I see this very much as a backstop if there is nobody else and I don’t think family are entitled to payment as a carer any more than a parent is entitled to be paid as a childminder.

Even though the state has a legal responsibility for caring for a disabled adult, I see this very much as a backstop if there is nobody else and I don’t think family are entitled to payment as a carer any more than a parent is entitled to be paid as a childminder

You don't think that people should be entitled to carers allowance despite having had to give up their jobs in order to become carers? Have I got that right?

You say you make up what he loses financially but can you see how this is open to abuse? The vulnerable disabled person loses their mobility payment so someone else has a car 365 days a year for free. I've seen it happen and I don't think the system should be relying on if you are honest enough to make the money he loses up to him.

Some of us aren't caring for our children, I am thankful that my children are all able to care for themselves. I'm 70 and caring for DH, my neighbour is similar age and caring for his wife, my husbands best friend for 60 years is in his mid 80s and caring for his wife. What is the choice? We walk away from our partner of 40, 50 or 60 years or we cope until we drop. CA is a pittance but we don't even get that although to be fair that isn't the help we need.

My big issue with CA before I was retirement age was the cliff edge, I worked but couldn't do overtime as I'd lose CA, I didn't benefit from annual bonus as I lost CA. I think that makes it very hard.

Some of us aren't caring for our children, I am thankful that my children are all able to care for themselves. I'm 70 and caring for DH, my neighbour is similar age and caring for his wife, my husbands best friend for 60 years is in his mid 80s and caring for his wife. What is the choice? We walk away from our partner of 40, 50 or 60 years or we cope until we drop. CA is a pittance but we don't even get that although to be fair that isn't the help we need

Quite. And if we do walk away then who will the burden of care fall to? We aren't worth the pittance we are paid in CA, but if we stop we will cost "the state" far more.

We won’t agree because you are ignoring the facts in favour of your emotions about your family. Which is all very nice and touchy feely, but irrelevant.

I think because the state sets rules and standards around familial caring responsibilities and can legally intervene when it deems necessary, it also has a responsibility to support the carers and act in partnership actually.

I agree with everything @StormingNorman has said. The irony is that Storming has been rational, not emotive unlike many of the responses they have had.

Indeed.

@StormingNorman is also presuming all unpaid carers are blood family and therefore have some sort of moral duty to sacrifice themselves-

my wife is my carer, I wasn’t disabled when we married and my disability means that several issues exist now which mean if you took disability out of the picture no one would blame her for leaving me.

I don’t see what moral duty she has for being my carer- divorce is perfectly legal and acceptable, that doesn’t change because someone is disabled… she does it by choice, thereby saving £££ for the state- not because it’s an obligation.

Nope. She sees it as this and thinks that… fair enough, but legally the situation isn’t what she sees it as or thinks.

Some of us are hoping for legal and systematic changes that are fair/ reasonable, effective and sustainable for everybody. What can be achieved is always gong to be constrained by the resources that are available.

Why are you hoping for this? How will it benefit you?

What would these look like?

This isn’t a post about spouses. I was talking about children and adult children.

Of course it should be increased it’s an insult. It should be paid the same as the NLW or at least the NMW.

This isn’t a post about spouses. I was talking about children and adult children

It is (yet another) thread about carers allowance. Of course those of us who care for spouses are going to comment.