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We’ve worked with Carers NI’s to produce the first report of the Carer Poverty Commission, “the experiences of poverty among unpaid carers in Northern Ireland”, which emphasises the wide-ranging impacts of living in poverty while providing unpaid carer in Northern Ireland.
Based on focus groups and semi-structured interviews conducted with carers from across Northern Ireland, the report highlights that:
- 25% of unpaid carers in Northern Ireland are living in poverty – significantly more than Northern Ireland’s non-carer population (16%) and higher than the carer poverty rate across the UK (23%).
- Carers in Northern Ireland struggle to combine paid work with unpaid care with many carers having to leave the labour market to meet the demands of their caring role, a decision with immense financial and personal costs.
- The current low monetary value of Carer’s Allowance, as well as the inflexibility of the eligibility criteria, provide an inadequate level of support for unpaid carers, and
- The inescapable extra costs of providing care, including additional food, energy and transportation costs, make carers more vulnerable to the hardships of the cost-of-living crisis, which is squeezing already tight budgets.
The report found that, in order to tackle and address poverty, unpaid carers were keen to see a range of policy solutions implemented, including: wholesale reform to the eligibility and value of Carer’s Allowance; the introduction of a Carer’s Allowance Supplement; the introduction of a Carers Essentials Payment to help make the cost of essentials more affordable; and legislative changes to introduce paid carer’s leave and day-one rights to flexible working alongside improved workplace culture, policies and training schemes to support carers.
Read the full report here.