building the services carers need to combine work and care: priorities and strategies in tough times...
TRANSCRIPT
Building the Services Carers Need to Combine Work and Care: priorities and
strategies in tough times
Madeleine StarrDirector of Business Development and
InnovationCarers UK
13 August 2013
An ageing world
• By 2050 the world’s population 85 or older is projected to increase more than fivefold, from 40 million to 219 million
• Europe will have the oldest population in the world, with 29% of its total population projected to be 65 or older by 2050
• In the UK, 11 million people alive today will live to 100
A workforce under pressure
• By 2050 globally three times more people of working age will be looking after 2 billion ageing family members
• By 2017 the UK will reach the tipping point for care - older people needing care will outstrip available working age family members
• 3 million people in the UK combine paid work with care, 2.4 million of them while juggling other family responsibilities, but that number will rise as the dependency ratio falls
Impact on individuals
• Carers UK/YouGov poll of 2073 people– 1 in 5 UK adults have seen their work
negatively impacted by caring (22%)– The impact was highest amongst 45-54 year
olds, where more than 1 in 4 reported that caring had affected their work (27%)
Impact on employers
• Unwanted loss of talent– Reflecting skills and experience
• Costs of recruitment and lost productivity– Employee’s last salary
• Lost potential– Reducing hours of working below skills level
• Absenteeism– Caring identified as a factor by the CBI
Impact on the economy
• Public expenditure costs in England of £1.3 billion a year in benefits and lost tax revenue
• £5.3 billion UK-wide taking account of lost income and pensions
• Impact on health and wellbeing and its associated costs for health and care services
Experience of services
• State of Caring Survey 2011: a third of carers had given up work or reduced hours because services were– Not flexible– Not suitable– Not affordable – Not reliable– Not shaped around work
• Findings supported by CES Report series
Key questions
• Can we see care services as a driver of economic productivity as much as social cohesion – a ‘condition for employment’?
• Does increased demand have to mean increased investment in public services?
• Can we turn a demographic challenge into a good news story of economic growth?
• Can we grow the care business?
The ‘new childcare’?
• UK investment in childcare in the 1990s – Aimed to provide the best outcomes for
children while enabling families to work– Provided investment to grow supply
• Tax incentives• Business incentives
– Enabled new providers • From large providers to social enterprise
and micro businesses
Lessons from Europe
• French Borloo Plan, 2005: Creation of 500,000 jobs, with growth through the recession
• Belgian subsidy for domestic services: 1% of Belgium’s population working in personal and household services, equating to 650,000 jobs in the UK
• European Consultation on PHS: Each working person in the EU27 externalising one hour a week of domestic or care activity would create 5.5 million jobs
The multiplier effect
Employees begin caring
They look for services that enable them to work
Carers work
More people work and care so need more services
Employers recognise and demand services as a
‘condition for employment’ like childcare
Increased demand stimulates service providers
to grow and innovate and leads to more investment
There are more and better quality services
Carers feel more able to combine work and care
- so more carers work
Next steps
• In the UK– Task and Finish Group report
• Making the case for growth in care – Care Bill
• Shaping local care markets• Ensuring a sufficiency of supply of care
– Treasury• Recognising the economic case, and
incentivising and investing in growth in care
Carers UK
Websites:
www.carersuk.org
www.employersforcarers.org