Monthly Archives: June 2012
Hidden carers miss out on £1,000s in benefits help
Guy Anker
News Editor
Many on low incomes who care for loved ones or friends are entitled to over £3,000 a year in the carer’s allowance alone, plus the fact they’re in that position may trigger eligibility for other benefits.
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There are approximately six million carers in the UK. However, huge numbers don’t claim.
Benefits charity Elizabeth Finn Care estimates 300,000 people who are eligible do not claim carer’s allowance.
Other non-financial support is also sometimes available from local authorities and charities to those who ask for help.
Cancer charity Macmillan says over a million people caring for someone with cancer miss out on vital support, which may go beyond straightforward state handouts.
What about the Carer? They have needs too
Wednesday, 27th June 2012
As part of National Carers Week, Care Alliance Ireland, is launching its Position Paper – ‘The Case for Carers Assessments’
‘For too long Family Carers have been taken for granted and treated as disposable assets. They now need to be treated as equal partners in care’ say Liam O’Sullivan, Executive Director, Care Alliance Ireland.
Unpaid carers cost economy £5.3bn, charity warns
It says an unfit care system means people often have to give up work to help the elderly or adult disabled.
The figure was calculated on the lost earnings and forgone taxes of more than 300,000 unpaid carers.
The government says its long-awaited white paper on social care is “imminent” and will include funding changes to “transform care”.
Michelle Mitchell, charity director general of Age UK said: “For many people, caring for a loved one is second nature and they wouldn’t have it any other way.
“But carers should never be forced to sacrifice their own financial security and wellbeing due to the lack of service provision and support from public services.
“Care cannot wait any longer – this is the government’s last chance to get it right and set their political legacy for generations to come.”
