Adult Social Care Committee to explore the relationship between unpaid care poverty, benefits and work
On Monday, 25 April, the Adult Social Care Committee holds its sixth and seventh public evidence sessions. As part of its ambition to understand and remedy the invisibility of adult social care, the Committee will explore the lack of recognition of the role played by unpaid carers
The purpose of both evidence sessions is to understand the link between caring, work and poverty, and identify what reform should be undertaken to break this link. The Committee’s first evidence session will concentrate on the support required for unpaid carers who are unable to remain in employment, while the second will focus on the support required for unpaid carers who remain in employment.
- This evidence session is due to be held remotely and streamed on Parliament TV.
- The Committee’s work can be followed on its website and via Twitter.
Meeting details
Themes for discussion
1. Whether existing benefits are sufficient to support unpaid carers who cannot undertake paid work, and if not, what are the consequences for unpaid carers.
2. Whether the existing benefits system is targeted and personalised enough to understand and accommodate the diverse needs of different carers.
3. How other European countries compare to England with regards to support for unpaid carers, and possible examples of best practice which England could learn from to design a system that is financially sustainable for unpaid carers.
4. The extent to which better support for carers to remain in employment constitutes a suitable solution for all carers, and ways to design a support system that can accommodate the personal circumstances of carers, including those who are unable to work alongside their caring duties.
5. How England compares to other countries when it comes to supporting unpaid carers in juggling their caring and working duties, and whether England should adopt any reforms that may have been successfully implemented in other countries.