Three Quarters Of Public Support Tax Rises For Social Care Says Poll

Three quarters (73%) of the public support a tax increase to pay for adult social care, a Survation poll for GMB reveals.

The survey, conducted in June 2019 and released as GMB launches a nationwide survey of care workers, also shows 68% of the public think adult social care is in a poor state.

Just 7% oppose tax rises to pay for social care, with 59% supporting a reverse to tax cuts – such as corporation tax – to pay for it.

Throughout our lives, we will all come into contact with care – be it our mums and dads needing help, working as a carer or knowing someone who does. Ultimately we will all need it ourselves.

Kelly Andrews, GMB National Officer

A whopping 86% believe carers should be well paid and trained, with 83% saying that pay should reflect the highly skilled and increasingly complex nature of care work.

Sally Copley, Director of Campaigns and Policy at Alzheimer’s Society, said:

‘It is abundantly clear that the public are increasingly concerned about the dementia care crisis and want to see action to fix dementia care.

‘The survey backs up the results of our own polling – which found that more than half those asked are in support of increased income tax to pay for care.

‘The public are ready to make tough decisions about where the money should come from to ensure there is no longer a financial lottery when it comes to accessing social care.’

‘Every day we wait for Government action, hundreds of thousands of people with dementia and their families face the realities of a broken system. The Prime Minister should take heed of the public’s willingness to find a solution and come forward with a sustainable plan to fix this crisis. Until a longer term solution is found, we need immediate investment in an NHS Dementia Fund to address the devastating costs people with dementia are facing – if the NHS doesn’t have the resources it needs, the government needs to make funding available.’