A government slave

[Ann_17021]

It's done from love, duty,respect etc.Yet 35 hours a week at £62 is not the minimum wage.Its slave labour.Be aware carers allowance pays a credit contribution to a possible future pension.It does not pay national insurance contributions,so when the horrendous happens you will not be entitled to any benefit or help.No one tells you this,these do good carer associations are also no help!

[bowlingbun]

I agree totally - at the CUK Annual Conference as long ago as 2004 I said we were modern day slaves, with no rights to time off, sick pay, holiday pay etc. I think at that time it worked out about 30p an hour for a full 168 hour week, which I worked sometimes.
My motion, to increase CA to the same level as the Minimum Wage was passed by well over 90% of the members, and then....buried!

[Chris From The Gulag]

You'll find almost total support from readers on this Forum as to the financial implications of caring in the UK.

As for our supporting organisations , always was a grey area when it come to the political arena.

As charities , they are now effectively gagged from making " Political " statements.

Prior to the gagging order , let us just say their " Opposition " was somewhat diplomatic.

Now , carers have little option other than to seek soltice from the supporting organisations as there is preciously little else out there.

True , there is an All Party Carers Group of mps in the House and , once a year , time is spent by a couple of tens of mps going over " Carers " in the House.

As to their contribution to carers generally , suffice to say they at least acknowledge our existence.

A search of Hansard will reveal not even an EDM for the benefit of carers despite one mp also being in the hierachy of one of our supporting organisations.

No doubt , no mp wanted to upset the cosy gravytrain provided at the expense of the carer army ?

[jenny lucas]

It's a key reason why so many of us 'put our parents in homes'.......

And for the same reason it's exactly why politicians keep prating on about 'care at home for the elderly' - yes, well, they would, wouldn't they? Except of course they'll never do it THEMSELVES! Oh, dearie me no!

[jenny lucas]

Thinking about it, I wonder if any local authority would bite the bullet and offer a minimum wage to anyone who kept their funded-care-eligible parent at home instead of putting them into residential care? It would be interesting to see if that made a difference to the funded-by-LA numbers of those in residential care, and whether it is actually cheaper still to pay a family member the minimum wage rather than pay a care home to pay the minimum wage to professional care workers to do the same amount of work, given that other expenses apply to care homes than just the labour (eg, admin, electricity, food, taxes, maintenance, etc etc)

There ought to be a pilot study done by one of the councils!

[bowlingbun]

It's partly a case of whose budget it comes out of. Most LA's will only fund 4 care visits a day, otherwise it's residential. In theory they can pay family members Direct Payments, but in practice they won't tell family. I've been battling this issue with my LA. They say they will pay the agency to support M when he's with us here, but won't pay me. My only regular income is basic state pension.

[Chris From The Gulag]

Thinking about it, I wonder if any local authority would bite the bullet and offer a minimum wage to anyone who kept their funded-care-eligible parent at home instead of putting them into residential care? It would be interesting to see if that made a difference to the funded-by-LA numbers of those in residential care, and whether it is actually cheaper still to pay a family member the minimum wage rather than pay a care home to pay the minimum wage to professional care workers to do the same amount of work, given that other expenses apply to care homes than just the labour (eg, admin, electricity, food, taxes, maintenance, etc etc)

There ought to be a pilot study done by one of the councils!

Spot on !

A simple idea totally lost on the planners in the social care sector due to it's ...... simplicity.

Perhaps not the minimum wage as such but an increase in Carers Pittance ... which would create a two tier system unless extended to all claimants.

What an opportunity for carers to " Negotiate " just like trade unionists !

Trouble is , there are no carers with a mandate to negotiate , just our supporting organisations who would be somewhat lost in that role ?

[Henrietta]

What does a Carers credit do if it is not equivalent to paying National Insurance? I thought that was the whole point of it so you don't miss out on not building up a contribution towards the state pension?

[Chris From The Gulag]

What does a Carers credit do if it is not equivalent to paying National Insurance? I thought that was the whole point of it so you don't miss out on not building up a contribution towards the state pension?

Precisely that.

Quote from the Government UK website :

You could get Carer’s Credit if you’re caring for someone for at least 20 hours a week.

Carer’s Credit is a National Insurance credit that helps with gaps in your National Insurance record. Your State Pension is based on your National Insurance record.

Other than , nothing.

When ceasing to claim Carers Pittance , Carers Credit does NOT count towards NI contributions which would enable other benefits to be paid.

Job Centre ... " Sorry squire , I know you've been a carer for past 10 years or so but , it does not count towards claiming JSA ( Or whatever passes for that benefit nowadays ) " ... from personal experience.

[bowlingbun]

I'm fairly certain that it is a "pension contribution" only. If you cease to care for someone, then you don't get an "contribution based" benefits.