Carers allowance breaches modern slavery laws surely

[Vatsallfolks]

This country has a minimum wage . It’s a fact . If you are over 21 years old it is £12.21 ph.

Therefore can somebody please explain why Carers Allowance is £83. 30 per week whilst stipulating that carers should be looking after their caree a minimum of 35 hours a week and then some .. which equates to £2.38 per hour .. and then .. we are ‘allowed’ to work another 18 hours.. (if we only could but we can’t as our cared for person actually doesn’t have a 36 hour cut off !!) just to equate to a minimum wage for 54 hour week ??
(when in fact many of us do a 189 hour week ? (24/7) which in reality is £2207 per week ..

so in essence e what I am saying is this . I could say NO .. I’m not doing it anymore.. and it will cost the govt a minimum of the minimum wage for him to be looked after .. but if don’t .. because I love him.. I had to give up my job to care for him .. which I have again because I love him .. but my God .. aren’t the Government taking the piss ?

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 Galores of people are expected to ask social services to step in when PIP and carers are withdrawn.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.

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.

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

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...

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

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.

Then you need to read again.

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.

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.

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)

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

The disability benefit payment for the child does not and should not make up ‘household income’. It is to provide things needed for the disabled child over and above those needed by a non disabled child. For example my son has 4-6 showers a day to regulate himself, meaning my water bills and gas bills are far higher than they would be otherwise.

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

No, we’re not. And when I had my 2 non disabled children we saved beforehand to cover maternity leave and to make some inroad into childcare costs when I went back to work. That is a completely different scenario to having a disabled child. It’s short term. When I had my disabled child, I didn’t know that I would potentially not be able to work for the rest of my (or his) life due to his care needs.

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?

And lots of people aren't.

If its going to paying the parent to care for the child then that's being spent on the child.

You can't claim Carers Allowance if you are in receipt of full state pension.

People can claim carers allowance for each other which seems odd imo. If you can care for another surely you can care for yourself?

What I do disagree with is how uni students are classed as full-time when it comes to carers allowance so can't claim, even if only 10 contact hours per week. Yet we lose our child benefit and they have to pay for prescriptions and dentists because uni is not classed as full time education. Which is it?!

On paper it is voluntary work. Nobody has to do
it.
I’m not saying it is morally right, but why it doesn’t have to be paid min wage.

The point is that it’s not ‘income’ for the parent in the way that a salary is. When I worked, my salary was spent on housing, bills, clothing etc for all of my children, hobbies for all of my children etc. When DLA is awarded it is made very clear that it is to be used for the benefit of the disabled child only, otherwise it is misuse of funds. It doesn’t constitute part of our household income in the way that my salary did.

You know you cannot claim carers allowance when you are on the state pension, do you???

"Nobody has to do it" Because it's so easy to walk away from your disabled child, parent, spouse etc It's so easy to just shut the door on them and go out, to work etc knowing that they can't get food if they are hungry, they can't get to the toilet, they can't take their medication by themselves, they can't turn themselves to prevent bed sores, I could go on and on but yes "nobody has to do it, it's voluntary". I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

It s not straight forward hourly salary. Is meant to top up. Does not compensate if someone gave up a job.
Keeping job and then doing overnight with non sleeping disabled child is hellish i know that and did it! ...some if high enough income can employ day and night care instead amd/or get some of this funded and continue working. It can be a choice.
It s not a case of give up a well paid job always. It is choice based on circs and some find it hard to get a place or to accept a residential placement.

Sometimes people choose because yes they cannot trust anyone else and do not want residential care or paid carers (which would cost more for sure than voluntary family care).

Carers allowance is caring 35 hours per week care so can go alongside ss paid carers covering some employment hours to the limit set

Top rate dla may be taken into account by family when considering if they give up paid work and take carers allowance. Of course dla often goes into family pot. It is not always spent solely on disability related.

When it comes to the current overpayment scandal, zero logic has been applied in the zeal to "claw back" "taxpayers money". The amounts allegedly owed under the clusterfuck of the current system (which aren't enough by any means) are dwarfed by the administrative and legal costs of pursuing it, suggesting it's absolute not about actually saving money.

When our justice system allows people to be criminalised for making mistakes while under the huge pressure and financial strain for making MISTAKES generated by the system itself, which hasn't bothered to liaise with HMRC and monitor income for years, despite that function being built in, you begin to wonder if the country is truly run by sadists and eugenecists.

I don't believe these cases should be going to court. If billions can be written off for banks and badly run corporations, then these relatively paltry amounts should be treated the same, and the system needs to be nuked and restructured.

I am so sorry for you. That sounds like such a lot to have to do forever. Relentless is the word I’m thinking of

Carers allowance itself is a pittance but along with universal credit, which includes disability element plus DLA/ PIP in some circumstances it can add up to a decent amount.

Thanks for confirming. That’s really quite shit isn’t it? So, some people are dependent only on carers allowance? How do they pay rent / mortgage? How do they afford food?

You’re missing the point, if the family member said this is too much physically and emotionally and the relative had to go in to state funded care, whether that be residential care or have cares coming in to their home, it would cost the government a hell of a lot more than the measly CA that people currently get.