2 Survey evidence on paid and unpaid care
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Anne Gray
Abstract
This chapter considers the scale of unpaid care, who are its givers and receivers, and how it meshes together with formal (paid-for) care. It examines the tiny scale of formal care relative to much larger informal (unpaid) care, ways of measuring the amount of unpaid care and the number of people involved. The volume of unpaid care is only being sustained because more people are caring for very long hours, leading to acute carer stress. Evidence from the growth of the care workforce demonstrates expanding self-funded purchases of care services in recent years. But this has failed to fill the gaps left by shrinking council services; unmet need remains high. Lastly, the chapter examines how the amounts of formal and informal care received vary by whether someone has a partner or children to help; and long-term trends in how informal eldercare is distributed between relatives and non-kin.
Abstract
This chapter considers the scale of unpaid care, who are its givers and receivers, and how it meshes together with formal (paid-for) care. It examines the tiny scale of formal care relative to much larger informal (unpaid) care, ways of measuring the amount of unpaid care and the number of people involved. The volume of unpaid care is only being sustained because more people are caring for very long hours, leading to acute carer stress. Evidence from the growth of the care workforce demonstrates expanding self-funded purchases of care services in recent years. But this has failed to fill the gaps left by shrinking council services; unmet need remains high. Lastly, the chapter examines how the amounts of formal and informal care received vary by whether someone has a partner or children to help; and long-term trends in how informal eldercare is distributed between relatives and non-kin.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of figures, tables and boxes iv
- List of abbreviations vi
- Acknowledgements vii
- Preface viii
- Introduction 1
- Survey evidence on paid and unpaid care 16
- How can informal care be sustained? 42
- Who pays? How much care could be free, what kinds and for whom? 67
- Widening the caring circle: towards a caring economy 94
- Solidarity projects: mutual aid, timebanks, community unions and volunteers 118
- Reducing the need for care 143
- Conclusions and solutions 159
- Cost calculations and revenue sources for expanding subsidised care 174
- Seniors’ different needs for help and how they are met 178
- Stories of lived experience 183
- References 191
- Index 219
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of figures, tables and boxes iv
- List of abbreviations vi
- Acknowledgements vii
- Preface viii
- Introduction 1
- Survey evidence on paid and unpaid care 16
- How can informal care be sustained? 42
- Who pays? How much care could be free, what kinds and for whom? 67
- Widening the caring circle: towards a caring economy 94
- Solidarity projects: mutual aid, timebanks, community unions and volunteers 118
- Reducing the need for care 143
- Conclusions and solutions 159
- Cost calculations and revenue sources for expanding subsidised care 174
- Seniors’ different needs for help and how they are met 178
- Stories of lived experience 183
- References 191
- Index 219
