New “Care About Care” Campaign Launches to Put Care at the Heart of the National Conversation
A major new campaign launches today calling on Government to recognise that social care is an essential part of our economy as well as our society — and to back the sector with the investment, recognition and political will it needs to deliver for people who need support.
Care About Care brings together care providers, care workers, families and the public behind a simple argument: social care is not a safety net for the few. It is one of the largest and most important sectors that every family will rely on at some point. It is an essential public service, a major contributor to the economy, and a sector that has been overlooked, undervalued and underfunded for more than two decades.
Campaigners are encouraging people using care services, care workers, and the wider public to back the campaign through the 30-second “email your MP” toolkit on https://careaboutcare.org/.
Social care contributes £77.8 billion to the economy each year — more than tourism, telecoms, and entertainment – with economic impact spread across every town and community in the country. It employs 1.6 million people, more than the NHS, and by 2040, Britain will need a further 470,000 care workers to meet growing demand for care. One in four people over 65 already need help with everyday tasks, and three in five of us will care for someone we love during our lifetime.
Yet despite its scale and importance, social care has been consistently overlooked by political parties of all colours. With major Council elections currently underway, and social care spending making up around 75% of all Council expenditure, social care has so far been absent from the campaign trail – despite being essential to people using care services, people working in care, Council finances, and the local economies of every town.
Care About Care is calling for that to change, seeking to reframe the debate around social care funding to so that it is seen as an essential investment in our nation and economy, rather than an insurmountable challenge to be ignored.
The campaign has three demands: an immediate tax cut on care work to deliver an immediate pay rise for care workers; fair funding for care services based on an independently calculated cost of care; and a new British Care Fund to back small, local care providers.
Care About Care is calling for immediate action to enable the sector to survive and thrive, whilst longer term plans for a National Care Service are developed and implemented over the next decade.
Nadra Ahmed CBE, Executive Co-Chair at the National Care Association said:
“Social care remains one of the most important public services which supports some of the most vulnerable members of our society, yet it continues to be chronically underfunded. Providers are being asked to deliver more complex care with fewer resources, putting a greater strain on individuals and their families both personally and financially.
“We believe is imperative that policymakers wake up to the importance of the sector and the challenges that confront it. We cannot and must not allow policymakers to continue to ignore that social care delivery is a key part of the health and wellbeing of our nation – as well as an essential part of our economy.”
Kat Hall, founder, Providers Unite, said:
“For too long, social care has been taken for granted. Successive governments have left providers and local authorities to deliver vital services on shoestring budgets, and the resilience of the sector has masked the scale of the problem. Resilience alone is not enough. It’s time for political change — for Government to step up, recognise what care contributes to the country, and back the sector that holds so much of British life together. Care About Care exists to drive that change.”
The campaign is urging the public to get involved by visiting carefuture.co.uk and writing to their MP.
