An article examined the extent and nature of kinship care in the United Kingdom, drawing on 2001 census micro data. It said that more than 173,000 children were living with relatives, without their parents, and the majority of these lived in poor and deprived circumstances. It highlighted the relevance for policy, and particularly for the needs of carers.
Source: Shailen Nandy and Julie Selwyn, 'Kinship care and poverty: using census data to examine the extent and nature of kinship care in the UK', British Journal of Social Work, Volume 43 Number 8
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Dec
A report outlined the case for a legal right to paid leave for workers with caring responsibilities.
Source: The Case for Care Leave: Families, work and the ageing population, Carers UK
Links: Report | Carers UK press release
Date: 2013-Dec
The Care Bill was given a second reading. The Bill was designed to:
Introduce a cap on the cost of social care in England, and give carers the legal right to support from their local council.
Provide protection to people whose care provider went out of business.
Set out provision for local authorities to assess the care and support needs of children, and young carers, who may need support after they reach the age of 18, to facilitate the transition to adult social care.
Set out entitlements to personal care budgets and provisions for deferred payments for care.
Introduce a rating system for hospitals and care homes, and give new powers of intervention to the chief inspector of hospitals.
Create two new public bodies, Health Education England and the Health Research Authority, designed to provide additional training and support for health professionals.
Source: Care Bill, Department of Health, TSO | Debate 16 December 2013, columns 487-580, House of Commons Hansard, TSO
Links: Bill | Explanatory notes | Hansard | HoC briefing paper | Summary | Carers UK briefing
Date: 2013-Dec
An article presented a local case study of working carers. Three-quarters of all carers who responded to the survey were of working age: two-thirds were employed, and one-third had been employed previously. The majority of working carers were mid-life extra-resident women. Over one-half of cared-for relatives were elderly parents/parents in law, with physical illness as the primary cause of dependency. One-tenth provided intensive care, and half reported that caring adversely affected their health: both were triggers for leaving employment.
Source: Alisoun Milne, Charlotte Brigden, Ann Palmer, and Elina Konta, 'The intersection of employment and care: evidence from a UK case study', European Journal of Social Work, Volume 16 Issue 5
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Dec
An article examined the characteristics of common forms of care network; the factors that might influence the type of care network formed when a need for care was identified; and the role of space in the formation of care networks. The results showed the importance of both individual and geographic factors in network formation
Source: David Bell and Alasdair Rutherford, 'Individual and geographic factors in the formation of care networks in the UK', Population, Space and Place, Volume 19 Issue 6
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Dec
A study found that carers' involvement in assessments, support planning, and reviews for personal budgets was highly valued: but in practice it lacked clarity and consistency. Although managers and practitioners considered carers' needs as part of service user assessments, the adequacy of the questions focusing primarily on carers' willingness and ability to continue caring was 'questionable' and far from the intentions of the 2004 Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act.
Source: Wendy Mitchell, Jenni Brooks, and Caroline Glendinning, Carers and Personalisation: What roles do carers play in personalised adult social care? What roles do carers and service users want carers to play?, National Institute for Health Research
Links: Summary | SPRU press release | Community Care report
Date: 2013-Aug
A taskgroup report said that more could and should be done to support people who wanted to combine caring for a family member with working. It said that doing so would give businesses and the economy a boost and save taxpayers £1.3 billion each year.
Source: Carers in Employment Task and Finish Group, Supporting Working Carers: The benefits to families, business and the economy, Carers UK
Links: Report | Summary | DH press release | Carers UK press release
Date: 2013-Aug
A paper examined the effects that the lack of childcare and care facilities for other dependants had on the career choices and situation of young men and women in the labour market in Europe, with a particular focus on the effects of the crisis on the accessibility of those services.
Source: Daphne Ahrendt, Robert Anderson, Jean-Marie Jungblut, Daniel Molinuevo, Eszter Sandor, Adi Buxbaum, and Sybille Pirklbauer, Caring for Children and Dependants: Effect on Careers of Young Workers, European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Jul
A paper examined the issues created by personalization for third sector organizations who worked with carers. The move towards more personalized support was seen as a positive development for carers, and the third sector was seen by most as being well placed to implement personalized services and respond to carers' needs: but there were concerns that it might struggle to compete financially with other providers, due to their emphasis on quality and fair wages for staff. Others, however, viewed many third sector organizations as having became complacent, and argued that competition was necessary to ensure that they responded to carers' needs. Third sector organizations needed to develop new funding streams, and to 'mainstream' services embracing the needs of carers alongside those being cared for.
Source: Robin Miller and Mary Larkin, Personalisation: A New Dawn or the End of the Road for Third Sector Support for Carers?, Working Paper 104, Third Sector Research Centre
Links: Paper | Briefing | De Montfort University press release
Date: 2013-Jul
A report highlighted the lack of support available to carers. A survey found that carers often struggled to balance work and their caring responsibilities, with 45 per cent saying that they had had to give up work. 61 per cent of carers had experienced depression, and 92 per cent said that they feel more stressed because of their caring role.
Source: Prepared to Care? Exploring the impact of caring on people s lives, Carers UK
Links: Report | Carers UK press release | Carers Trust press release | Guardian report
Date: 2013-Jun
A report examined the long-term impact of caring responsibilities on children. 1 in 12 young carers were caring for more than 15 hours per week. Around 1 in 20 missed school because of their caring responsibilities, and young carers had significantly lower educational attainment at GCSE level. The average annual income for families with a young carer was £5,000 less than other families. Young carers were more likely than average to be not in education, employment or training (NEET) between the ages of 16 and 19. Despite improved awareness of the needs of young carers, there was no strong evidence that young carers were any more likely than their peers to come into contact with support agencies.
Source: Hidden from View: The experiences of young carers in England, Children s Society
Links: Report | Childrens Society press release | PRTC press release | BBC report | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2)
Date: 2013-May
An article examined the thresholds at which provision of unpaid care affected employment in England. It said that carers' employment might be negatively affected when care was provided at a lower intensity than was generally estimated.
Source: Derek King and Linda Pickard, 'When is a carer s employment at risk? Longitudinal analysis of unpaid care and employment in midlife in England', Health and Social Care in the Community, Volume 21 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Apr
A study examined informal kinship care (informal care of children by relatives and friends because the parents were no longer able to look after them). Just over two-thirds (67 per cent) of the children had been abandoned by parents affected by alcohol or drug misuse, including nearly one-quarter (24 per cent) misusing both. Exposure to domestic violence and parental mental illness was also common. The parents' chaotic lives had led to parental indifference (64 per cent) and to active rejection (26 per cent) of their children.
Source: Julie Selwyn, Elaine Farmer, Sarah Meakings, and Paula Vaisey, The Poor Relations: Children and informal kinship carers speak out, University of Bristol/Buttle UK
Links: Report | Summary | Buttle UK press release | Bristol University press release | BBC report
Date: 2013-Apr
A new book examined the law's response to caring: how care was valued and recognized, how it was regulated and restricted, and how the values of caring were reflected in the law.
Source: Jonathan Herring, Caring and the Law, Hart Publishing
Links: Summary
Date: 2013-Mar
An article examined intergenerational support patterns in Europe. There was a distinct geographical distribution of private support patterns. In northern Europe help between parents and children was very common, but typically consumed little time. The contrary was true for southern Europe, where comparatively few support relations were very intense in terms of time. These different patterns could be explained by the prevalence of public assistance according to the specialization hypothesis: with increased public transfers and social services, sporadic help was more likely (crowding in), and less time-consuming support between generations (crowding out) occurred.
Source: Martina Brandt, 'Intergenerational help and public assistance in Europe: a case of specialization?', European Societies, Volume 15 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Feb
A paper examined the effects on informal care behaviour of introducing free personal care for elderly people in Scotland. The policy had actually increased the probability of supplying informal care by 3-5 percentage points, suggesting that the two sources of care were complementary.
Source: Sarah Karlsberg Schaffer, The Effect of Free Personal Care for the Elderly on Informal Caregiving, Research Paper 13/01, Office of Health Economics
Links: Paper | OHE press release
Date: 2013-Feb