Millions ‘forced to quit jobs’ to care for loved ones

Chronic underfunding of the social care system stretching back more than two decades has reached such a critical stage that millions of families are faced with leaving employment to care for relatives diagnosed with illnesses such as dementia and Parkinson’s disease.

Directors at Carers UK say the care crisis is now directly affecting the UK’s economy, with the workforce and skills being eroded as the need to care for family members takes precedence. Research by the charity has revealed the extent of the problem, with 2.3 million carers forced to give up work while three million employees have had to reduce their hours to care for relatives.

Carers UK’s chief executive, Heléna Herklots, said: “The businesses we work closely with are telling us the same story as the statistics – that dementia and the impact on employees of caring for loved ones is a key issue for workforce retention, recruitment and resilience.

“Very often the need to care for an elderly parent comes at peak career age. Without the right support, the strain of caring for an elderly parent or loved one and working, often also alongside raising a family, can quickly become too difficult to manage and force employees with valuable experience and skills out of the workforce.

“The fact that one in six carers have quit work to care is a serious issue for families and for employers. We need to understand what support staff and employers need to keep those who are caring in work.”

The charity has joined forces with leading employers including British Gas, BT and Sainsbury’s to ensure staff are given guidance and support about the help that is available to prevent an unnecessary drain on the nation’s workforce. Studies are being undertaken to highlight the scale of the problem and the Government is being petitioned to ensure legislation which is due to be introduced from 2015 under the Care Bill helps address the mounting crisis.

The Employers for Carers forum has over 70 members and represents more than a million workers from the private and public sectors. It is aimed at providing practical advice to managers to help retain carers in their workforce.

The forum’s chairman, Ian Peters, the managing director of British Gas residential energy, said: “Supporting carers in our workforces is not just about being a good employer, it is good for business – improving productivity and reducing workplace stress, reducing staff turnover and recruitment costs, and enabling us to retain the talent and experience of staff who we would otherwise lose.

“However, much more needs to be done to make supporting colleagues who juggle work and care part of normal workplace practice, and ensure that families can access the advice, support and services they need to enable them to combine work and home life.”

Local authorities and NHS officials across Yorkshire have repeatedly voiced concerns over the increasing pressures on budgets amid the trend to an ageing population, which is causing a soaring demand in care of the elderly. In North Yorkshire alone, it is estimated that almost 11,500 people are living with dementia, with 60 per cent of cases going undiagnosed. That figure is expected to rise by 39 per cent to nearly 16,000 sufferers by 2021.

The true scale of the financial crisis facing North Yorkshire County Council emerged in July after finance officers admitted the situation was even worse than they predicted just six months previously due to the Government imposing even deeper funding cuts. The council is faced with enforcing cuts totalling nearly £160m by 2018-19 – almost a third of the overall revenue budget it had only eight years previously.

One of the areas which is expected to be hit hard is the adult social care department. Social care support is due to be withdrawn for more than 1,000 people as the council aids people judged to have “substantial” needs rather than just “moderate”.