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The crisis facing the elderly and their carers

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crisis facing elderly and their carersLooking at the impact of austerity on those delivering care to older people.

The Political Studies Association Research Commission into the Crisis of Care in Austerity Britain will be reporting in September 2016 on the current crisis that is playing out in the provision of care for older people.

The Commission aims to focus particular attention on the impact of austerity on those delivering care to older people.

The crisis of care in Britain is intensifying, however it is largely discussed in terms of rising costs of care to the state, but rarely in terms of the costs to those engaged in doing this work.

Low pay and poor conditions of work for those engaged in care work is a major concern, as is the wellbeing of those in their care.

And the majority of care is performed by family members, including grandparents, with women making up a disproportionate share of these carers.

The British welfare state has been important in organising, resourcing and delivering supporting care work in the country, and its contraction is having a significant impact on people’s lives.

Women in particular have borne the brunt of welfare restructuring, not just in terms of job losses but also because they have had to fill the gaps in social support which has been decimated as a result of cuts in state funded services.

The Commission will focus on a number of issues, including:

(a) an analysis of how care for older people is governed – especially in England – and identifying current shortcomings in public policy and areas of market failure;

(b) the impact of the experience of caring on paid and unpaid carers and other family members;

(c) a concern with how the experience of caring and being cared for plays out within Britain’s black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) and migrant communities – both within BAME households and for those employed in the care sector.

The Commission’s public call for evidence is now open.

If you would like to contribute evidence to the PSA Commission on the Crisis of Care in Austerity Britain then please read this document: Public Call for Evidence.

Please submit responses and other documentation here.

A one-day evidence-gathering event ‘The Work of Care’ will take place on 11 March 2016 at St Michael’s House, Coventry.

It will focus on the issues facing care workers and unpaid care workers and will bring together a range of speakers, including carers, care workers, academics and policy specialists.

The chair and moderator for this event will be Belinda Phipps – chair of the Fawcett Society and co-chair of the PSA Research Commission on Care. To see the list of speakers, click here.

The event is free and open to the public, but spaces are limited so please register by sending an email via this contact form.

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