Carers ‘deeply worried about their financial future’

A report has revealed that carers in Northern Ireland face severe financial penalties when they begin caring for a disabled or ill relative or friend.

Carers Northern Ireland carried out a UK-wide survey of 3,000 carers and discovered in the Province alone, their support is worth £1.9bn per year to the state.

The survey found carers had to make cut backs on food, heating and clothes, give up their jobs and sacrifice their pensions – leaving them deeply worried about their financial future.

Helen Ferguson, Director of Carers Northern Ireland, said: “Carers are often forced out of work because the social care system cannot give them the support they need. They give so much to society yet due to caring, they experience ill health and poverty. Carers feel short changed by the system.”

She continued: “Carers’ benefits were designed in the 1970s when the world was a very different place. What we need is a radical overhaul of the benefits and tax system. We also need to invest heavily in social care to ensure that carers and their families can take advantage of things that others take for granted – going out shopping, having a weekend break, going on a course or working.”

The survey also found out that 93% of respondents have found their financial situation has worsened since becoming a carer, compared with an average 73% across the UK.

Also, 64% of carers in NI have no savings at all and 48% have trouble paying gas/electricity bills or telephone bills.

Parents of disabled children under the age of 18 and those caring for adult disabled children were worst hit, suffering greater debt and difficulty paying bills and are forced to borrow from friends and family.

(JM/SP)