Raising the carers allowance
Carers Week estimate that there are up to 13.6m people in the U.K who undertake unpaid care duties, 26% of the adult population
For those earning under £128 per week it is possible to claim a carers allowance. To be eligible you have to provide 35 hours care per week for which you receive £67.25p.
This allowance has just been reviewed. Whilst the government decided to significantly increase in the minimum wage ( by 19p per hour) they decided not to increase the weekly earnings limit for carers and increased the weekly payment to £67.60 a derisory increase of 5p per day.
Projections based on polling indicate that unpaid carers across the UK have provided support to be £193 billion of care a year according to Carers Week
Whilst awareness of unpaid carers is higher since the outbreak of coronavirus with half (48%) of those who had never been a carer said they were either more aware or much more aware of unpaid carers. 21% of the general public were much more aware.
However two thirds (65%) of the public thought unpaid carers were not valued. Women were more likely to think this (69%), compared with men (61%).
The general public also felt that the Government had not done enough to support unpaid carers. Nearly 7 out of 10 people (69%) felt that unpaid carers had not been supported by the Government during the coronavirus outbreak and almost three quarters (75%) thought the Government should increase support.
For these reasons we Liberal Democrat's have been campaigning for carers to be treated more fairly. We want the Carers Allowance increased by £1000 per year not the extra £18.20 offered.
If you agree with us sign up to our campaign at https://change.libdems.org.uk/carers