Working parents may hit ‘ceiling’

July 11, 2013   Carers, disability, family, ukcuts
Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF)

Baby hand wrapped around father's finger
The report was commissioned to probe whether Universal Credit, which combines six different benefits and tax credits into one simplified payment, will achieve its goal of making work pay. It suggested that people without children will generally have stronger incentives to work.

Moving into “mini jobs” of up to 10 hours a week would see families better off under the shake-up, but working beyond this threshold results in a slow climb towards a higher disposable income, it found. Families could end up “trapped” on inadequate funds to get by.
The system risks being undermined by high childcare costs combined with low wages and sharp cuts in Universal Credit once families earn above certain thresholds, the report, titled Does Universal Credit Enable Households To Reach A Minimum Income Standard? said.

Donald Hirsch, from the centre for research in social policy at Loughborough University and author of the report, said the rewards for working extra hours under Universal Credit can be “tiny”. He said: “Parents hit a ceiling where a lid is placed on the aspiration to work more hours for an adequate income, because the return is negligible.”

Read More

More needs to be done to tackle social isolation

July 11, 2013   Carers, dementia, internet

How to reduce social isolation in an age of declining social care budgets

More needs to be done to tackle social isolation, which affects many more people and puts them at greater risk of dementia

 

It is wrong to assume older people do not crave the benefits of technology which can help with reducing social isolation.

According to Age UK, the number of 55 to 64-year-olds living alone has increased by 50% since 1998. Social isolation is now thought to affect more than 1 million people in the UK, and the evidence that social isolation is a risk factor for dementia and shortens lifespan is becoming irrefutable.

While the causes of social isolation are multiple, if we are to stem the accelerating burden on social care and NHS, more needs to be done earlier to intervene for people at risk. But what are the alternatives, when local authorities face unprecedented funding cuts and have tightened their eligibility criteria for people with milder needs?

At a policy level, little is being done to extend independence in high risk groups in coming generations. Many commissioners are petrified at the projections five to 10 years from now as insufficient budgets will be there to provide care to this population. In my view, the government’s dementia strategy is inadequate as it provides limited focus on encouraging positive behaviours around cognitive health in a much larger at risk group. Yet the flipside is the public’s belief that any service, innovation or tool to enable independence should be provided by the state. This has to change.

Read More

Dementia gran 'kidnapped' by social services and family charged £1,300

July 11, 2013   Carers, Older care

“It has been hellish.”

Thursday, July 11, 2013
Brentwood Gazette

By Matt Reason

AN 85-YEAR-OLD dementia sufferer was “kidnapped” by Essex County Council’s social services department – which then charged her daughter and grandson £1,300 for the unnecessary care costs she incurred.

Brentwood resident Martin Harlow and his mother Marian Harlow fought for nine days to bring Enid Parkinson home after she was taken into care – only achieving their goal after the intervention of local government secretary Eric Pickles.

  1. ​

    Concerned: Martin Harlow with his grandma Enid Parkinson at her new home at Leonard Lodge, Hutton

Mr Harlow, 36, who works for a hotel booking firm, said of his grandmother’s ordeal: “It has been hellish.

“My mum has been diagnosed with anxiety and I felt sick with stress.”

Mr Harlow said his grandmother, who lives with his mum in Frayes Chase, Ongar, was taken into respite care at Ashlar House, in Epping.

He continued: “She didn’t come home so my mother phoned the cab company who told her she wasn’t coming.

“My mother phoned the care home and discovered that there had been an allegation of abuse and that social services had taken her into care in Loughton.

“The allegation was simply, ‘my daughter shouted at me’ and social services hadn’t phoned to tell us.”

Mr Harlow, who is also a special constable, added: “My mother has Power of Attorney on Grandma’s affairs and finances and they were spending money without permission.

“I was away on business until Thursday and I came home to the news that my grandma had been taken away.

“I went to visit her at the Loughton care home and she was confused, claiming to have been there for a couple of weeks.

Read More