The future for employed unpaid carers – what are the next steps?  

Beverley Tarka, former President of ADASS and current DASS in Haringey, reflects on the Carers UK campaign for a statutory right to paid Carer’s Leave and how this could provide the vital support they need. 

The introduction of the Carer’s Leave Act 

I’ve been working closely with carer organisations on improving support for carers and the introduction of the Carer’s Leave Act 2023 was a turning point for many who are juggling the challenges of work and caring responsibilities. In the UK, as many as one in seven people are faced with this reality, according to Carers UK research in 2019.  

Friends who are working and caring have told me of the relief they feel now they can take time off work to care for family members. This could be to attend a hospital appointment or to care for them when they are unwell. They also no longer feel guilty about taking time off or worry they’ll lose their job. This legislation however only goes as far, as for others, taking unpaid leave simply isn’t an option, particularly for those on low wages.  

Why are we campaigning for this change?

 Carers UK found a staggering 2.6 million people have quit their job to care for a loved one who is older, disabled or seriously ill, with almost half a million (468,000) leaving their job in the last two years alone – more than 600 people a day. 

This shows the huge pressure people face juggling often competing responsibilities. Yet without employment, increasing numbers of carers are facing financial difficulties and missing out on the social and mental health benefits of work. It’s clear to me, we need to do better at enabling people with caring responsibilities to stay in work whilst caring for family and friends. Unfortunately, unpaid carers leave, particularly for those on low wages, simply doesn’t go far enough in achieving this.  

Supporting the workforce and businesses

Paid Carer’s leave would benefit carers, support employee retention and the economy. It would make it easier for people to balance their work and caring responsibilities as well as benefit them financially with the flexibility to work more hours. It would support UK businesses to retain and recruit employees and save money, which could be costing them over £3.5 billion every year, the report finds.

The path towards Paid Carer’s Leave

The first step would be a statutory right to five days of paid Carer’s Leave per year to be delivered during this Government, but ultimately the vision is for this period to increase over time. (The ambition is for carers to have a statutory right to two weeks of paid Carer’s Leave a year, accompanied by a longer period of up to six months of unpaid leave.)

Countries providing paid Carer’s leave  

It was promising to hear The Minister of State for Social Care say the “Government was committed to reviewing the implementations of carers leave and examining all the benefits of introducing paid Carers Leave,” in a recent debate on unpaid care. This could put us in line with other countries which include, Germany, Japan, Italy and Sweden who have already introduced statutory paid leave for working carers, in addition to the 9% of working carers in the UK whose organisations offer paid Carer’s Leave on a non-statutory basis.  

ADASS has long advocated for better support for carers. In Time to Act, our roadmap to transform social care, a key theme is around improving support for carers to ensure their needs are met, they’re able to remain in employment and receive emotional and financial support.  

In the future, ADASS’s vision is for ‘family care to be truly voluntary’ and for carers who choose to look after loved ones to be provided with adequate support. A statutory right to paid Carer’s Leave would be an important step towards achieving this vision.

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