I think this is one of the huge weaknesses in David Cameron's 'Big Society' idea. As a teenager, I did some unpaid caring too, but it was worse for my little sister after I'd jumped ship and our mother's disability had worsened. As daughters we were both expected to behave as good little women, making the best of everything for others and being too polite to ask for any reward. I can think of other examples I've known, many of them children taking the 'parenting' role to their parents. One lass who did that, who's now a teenager, seems quite embittered.
I took a parental role with my mother from far too early an age, and that was waaaay before she was disabled and was due to her personality flaws. If I'd had sense, I would've left years ago. It might, actually, have been better for her if I had, as it might have made her shape up and take responsibility for her own life. Though, probably not.
My aunt looked after her partner for many years. He needed such a lot of care in the later years that, when my aunt needed a break, she had to pay £700 odd a *week* to the nursing home on top of the respite vouchers. She, btw, was only getting paid £40 a week for that (that was how much the invalid care allowance was then). So professional care cost over a thousand a week, but she only deserved £40 a week. How does that make sense?
You don't get all your Council Tax paid now, Council Tax Benefit was replaced by Council Tax Support (CTS), administered by local councils. They set the rates. My local authority has the highest expected contribution - people on Working Age benefits (Income Support, Employment Support Allowance, Jobseekers Allowance) are expected to contribute 30% of their council tax bill now.
And yeah, I could go on an epic rant about how much help my partner and I need with care but we're still fighting for our DLA tribunal so I don't have the damn spoons.
I considered explaining the Council Tax Benefit/Support and how pretty much everyone has to pay at least part of it...but my post seemed complicated enough as it was. I had no idea though that some councils are insisting on 30% of the council tax - sheesh, that's high!
Thanks for the heads up on Carer's Allowance. I didn't know the name had changed. I'll add that to my post.
I hope you manage to get your DLA sorted out. The system is a total shambles. :o(
It's beyond reasonable. I work for the CAB and the amount of people who are defaulting is beyond belief. They just dont have the money. We're extremely short of 1beds, so what did they do? Build 2 and 3 bed flats!!
Yep! Which makes total sense, of course. What with the bedroom tax, the extra council tax, the cost of living...people are in dire straits and it wasn't like they had spare money beforehand. :o(
Working full time and looking after my grandmother when she was ill broke me. She was ill enough that she should have been in hospital but refused to go.
I cannot see anyone working full time and being a sole carer surviving even into the medium term and maintaining enough health to work outside that home.
I honestly think the people who have come up with this have no concept of how hard being a carer is. Expecting people to do at least an extra 40 hours a week on top of their paying job is outrageous. People can't work like that without becoming ill themselves. As you know. :o(
I'm a student nurse sharing a flat with a friend. Apart from 6 weeks of 2 care calls a week to help me with showering when I came out of hospital after an accident and unable to walk my friend has had to pick up the burden of doing everything for me that I couldn't do and still can't. It's odd due to set up on wards I can provide full patient care though getting onto the floor due to the damage in my leg is interesting but my own personal care I struggle with due to the degradation in my joints. As my friend was working he was unable to claim a penny for helping me even though I could if the care wasn't so useless get free care through social services due to my low income yet was assessed as getting nothing on dla and I didn't have the energy to fight it. I'll reapply for pip after I start Uni. I also provide care for my friends depression but again can't claim a penny and currently it's hard work I'm a week off starting term again to repeat the year I missed most of due to my accident and currently sitting in out of hours dr as his
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No, it isn't. I have a carer who I pay for, and a lot of her regulars are paid for by social services. She's complained that they're being told to cut down on visits/hours spent there, but people need the care and now the carers are expected to provide the same amount of care in half the time - either that or leave the client to do the rest themselves.
A friend of mine used to work in the DLA dept and she was convinced the system was set up to refuse the first application in the hope of putting the claimant off. I hope you manage to get PIP when you apply.
I did it in 2009/10 when it was being run through small groups of carers and trained facilitators and I found it really useful. They repeatedly talked about the long term costs of caring (health/financial) and gave guidance on accessing support from other services and looking after your own mental and physical health. Unfortunately, the in-person groups were cancelled for cost reasons in 2010 but the resources may still be useful to people.
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My aunt looked after her partner for many years. He needed such a lot of care in the later years that, when my aunt needed a break, she had to pay £700 odd a *week* to the nursing home on top of the respite vouchers. She, btw, was only getting paid £40 a week for that (that was how much the invalid care allowance was then). So professional care cost over a thousand a week, but she only deserved £40 a week. How does that make sense?
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You don't get all your Council Tax paid now, Council Tax Benefit was replaced by Council Tax Support (CTS), administered by local councils. They set the rates. My local authority has the highest expected contribution - people on Working Age benefits (Income Support, Employment Support Allowance, Jobseekers Allowance) are expected to contribute 30% of their council tax bill now.
And yeah, I could go on an epic rant about how much help my partner and I need with care but we're still fighting for our DLA tribunal so I don't have the damn spoons.
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Thanks for the heads up on Carer's Allowance. I didn't know the name had changed. I'll add that to my post.
I hope you manage to get your DLA sorted out. The system is a total shambles. :o(
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I cannot see anyone working full time and being a sole carer surviving even into the medium term and maintaining enough health to work outside that home.
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A friend of mine used to work in the DLA dept and she was convinced the system was set up to refuse the first application in the hope of putting the claimant off. I hope you manage to get PIP when you apply.
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I did it in 2009/10 when it was being run through small groups of carers and trained facilitators and I found it really useful. They repeatedly talked about the long term costs of caring (health/financial) and gave guidance on accessing support from other services and looking after your own mental and physical health. Unfortunately, the in-person groups were cancelled for cost reasons in 2010 but the resources may still be useful to people.
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No surprise. :o(
Hopefully, any carers reading this will be able to use the resources. Thanks for posting the link.
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