Women are caring without support – this is taking a toll on their health and on the economy

The carer’s allowance payment scandal shone a light on how little we value and support the fundamental contribution carers make to the well-being of others and to the wider economy.

Caring for others and receiving care is a fundamental part of life. We all need care, not only when we are very young and as we grow older, but also at times throughout our lives. Most of us will also give care for varying periods of time. Often painted as “labour of love” or an unspoken “duty”, care is the glue that holds families and communities together.

Yet, care remains one of the most undervalued and overlooked components of our economic and social fabric.

While care is often part of loving relationships, it is labour and it can take a toll on carers’ health; we know that caring is associated with increased risks of long-term ill-health. Caring without respite is arduous. For care to be safe, dignified and fair, it must always be a choice. But right now, our social care system—buckling under 14 years of chronic underfunding, creeping privatisation, and the aftermath of Covid-19—offers little in the way of real options for too many people, most of them women.

The recent increases in the state pension age have resulted in more women in particular being expected to remain in the labour market for longer. But these women are often the ones caring for relatives whilst also too often grappling with poor health themselves. Older women are being tasked with the impossible juggling act of combining paid work, care work and ill-health with little to no support.

Whilst everyone recognises that parents and mothers in particular cannot be expected to participate in the labour market without improving access and affordability in the early years system, the same recognition and state intervention has not been extended to older women and adult social care. The neglecting of our social care system and the invisibility of the crucial contribution that unpaid carers make to society, have had negative consequences across the population and are impacting our economy. People are going without the care they need, harming their quality of life. Needs escalating from preventable and manageable issues into more complex and costly health harms. Carers are being put under more stress, damaging their health and financial circumstances because without a robust social care system they cannot care for loved ones whilst holding a job. And social care workers are having to abandon their vocation in search of better paid jobs and working conditions elsewhere to face recent rises in living costs.

Women have been impacted three times over, as the vast majority of the social care workforce, most unpaid carers within families, and many of those needing care.

So what should be done to fix this? Recognising the crucial contribution carers make to society and the economy – to the tune of an estimated £162 billion a year – must include supporting them financially. The plans announced by the welfare secretary, Liz Kendall, to overhaul Carer’s Allowance are a good sign. These announcements came after many carers were hit with unexpected calls to repay Carer’s Allowance overpayments due to an unfair interaction with wages from paid employment. This showed this benefit as currently designed is not fit for purpose. Beyond ending the unfair cliff-edge earnings rule, Kendall must look at increasing what is one of the lowest benefits in our social security system. This is about recognising the importance of this type of labour to our economy, and ensuring women are not economically penalised for doing it.

The government must also introduce urgent reform of our social care system. The introduction of fair pay agreements and collective bargaining in the sector is an important first step in improving pay and conditions to the mostly female workforce. But additional funding should follow, otherwise we will continue to see local government’s finances deteriorating and more councils going bust. In the medium term, we need comprehensive reform so the system provides high-quality care for everyone who needs it, turning care into a genuine choice for relatives and friends, contributing to equality between women and men.

Our economy and society can’t flourish while our most vulnerable members—and those who care for them—are left behind. Addressing economic inactivity and improving well-being, especially for women, requires a serious commitment to reforming and investing in our social care system.

A truly resilient economy needs a foundation built on strong social infrastructure. Without it, economic inactivity will keep rising, and women’s health and well-being will continue to decline. For Rachel Reeves to create an economy that works for women, social care cannot be overlooked.