Cash for unpaid carers amounts to 87p a year, Ed Davey told the Independent yesterday. This comment followed the publication of the government’s long delayed white paper on reforming funding for social care.

Ed Davey said that the funding on offer over a three-year period was an “insulting” response to the sacrifices made by millions of people who have cared for disabled or ill family members and other loved ones during the pandemic. They are now at “breaking point” after months without respite.

Ed Davey said:

Millions of people across the country are making huge sacrifices to look after loved ones. For the Conservative government to offer just 87p per carer is as insulting as it is short-sighted.

Carers have been repeatedly ignored and forgotten by this Conservative government, and the lack of funding in their social care white paper is the latest shocking example.

Unpaid carers have stepped up heroically during this pandemic. Most haven’t been able to take a break since it started. Most are simply exhausted and many are at breaking point, they deserve far more support.

The annual State of Caring report published on Wednesday by charity Carers UK found that one in four unpaid carers do not have enough money to cover monthly expenses with average outgoings of £1,370 a year on services or equipment for the person for whom they are a carer. Four in five carers are female and more than a quarter consider themselves to have a disability. Only one third are in paid work.

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