General Election 2024: a manifesto for unpaid carers
In the lead up to the 2024 General Election, Carers UK produced a manifesto for carers, calling on all political parties to commit to a new social contract for carers to recognise the enormous contribution millions of people make each day by providing the unpaid care that their families and friends need.
The new Government must do much more to ensure that every carer has the financial, practical and workplace support they need, over the next five years and beyond.
Through our engagement with thousands of unpaid carers and our wider research and policy work, Carers UK has identified six thematic areas where we want to see all political parties commit to significant and meaningful policies to transform the lives of millions of carers:
- Supporting carers’ health and wellbeing
- Preventing financial hardship
- Better identification and recognition
- Improving care and support
- Support to juggle work and care
- Equality for carers
We are also calling for the development of a new, ambitious and comprehensive National Carers Strategy to transform the way Government supports carers over the next 10 years.
The new Government must:
- Reform Carer’s Allowance and other social security payments for carers.
- Deliver a new, ambitious and funded cross Government National Carers Strategy.
- Invest in carers’ breaks and respite services, and legislate so all carers have a right to a break in England.
- Make the NHS the most carer-friendly health service in the world, with new rights and practical support.
- Introduce a statutory right to two weeks of paid Carer’s Leave for working carers.
- Recognise caring as the 10th protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010.
- Provide sustainable funding and investment in social care services.
- Support carers to manage their health and wellbeing.
Campaign with us
Carers UK campaigned hard in the run up to the General Election to ensure all political parties commit to policies that will improve the support carers receive.
You can still get involved with our campaign by:
- Signing our 'open letter to the future Prime Minister', which we will deliver to Sir Keir Starmer, the new Prime Minister, at Downing Street in the coming weeks.
- Sharing your story with us. If you're willing, we want to hear from you! Contact comms@carersuk.org
- Supporting our campaign on social media to help raise awareness of caring on Facebook and X (formerly known as Twitter).
In the lead up to the election we also asked you to write to the candidates standing for election in your constituency, using our campaign action and template letter and download our campaign pack for carers including information about our manifesto, how to register to vote, and key questions to ask of local candidates on the doorstep.
Now that the General Election has happened, we will work with the new Government to ensure that unpaid carers are properly recognised and have the financial, practical and workplace support they need. You can now get in touch with your newly elected MP to ask for their support for unpaid carers. Feel free to include a copy of our manifesto in your correspondence. You can find your MP and their contact details on the parliament website: members.parliament.uk/members/commons
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