Carers, Employment and Services: time for a new social contract? (report)

The report, commissioned by Carers UK, is one of a series of publications and draws together the findings of the other reports on the Carers, Employment and Services Study conducted in 2006-7.
 
Starting with a call for a radical overhaul of the entire infrastructure of support for carers, the study suggests that the new social contract needs to build on realities, such as :
Chronically ill and disabled people need care, most of which is provided by carers – i.e. family and friends
Replacing all unpaid care with formal care services is both impossible and undesirable
Carers need independence, income and life choices and should not pay a penalty for the contribution they make.
The report stresses the need for recognising and including carers who would be key and non-negotiable partners, to whom all within the infrastructure were committed.  It also calls for set of legal, regulatory and fiscal frameworks supporting carers.
The research shows that caring carries three main penalties: poorer health, financial strain and social exclusion.  To address this, some of the recommendations included are: information, training and brokerage services for carers and a new advice, guidance and advocacy service on caring and employment.
The access the full report follow the link below: