It is a hard decission to make .. to give up your career to care for a family member who is elderly,sick,or disabled.
For me it was the only decission and one I never regretted.
Today I came across this article and thought I would like to share it.
Unpaid carers cost economy £5.3bn
Carers who give up work to look after
others cost England's economy about £5.3bn a year, the charity Age UK says.
With the present care system people often have to give up work to help
the elderly or adult disabled.
The figure was calculated on the lost earnings and forgone taxes of more than
300,000 unpaid carers.
The government says its white paper on social care is "imminent"
and will include changes to "transform care".
For many people,
caring for a loved one is second nature and they wouldn't have it any other way.
"But carers should never be forced to sacrifice their own financial security
and wellbeing due to the lack of service provision and support from public
services.
A Department of Health spokesman said: "We agree that helping people to stay
in work alongside caring not only helps carers' careers and family finances but
is crucial for our workforce and economy.
"The government has committed to working together with the business community
to help carers manage work and care.
The Age UK analysis in April, adding in loss of wages to previously
calculated loss from tax revenues and claimed carers' allowance.
Loss of earnings was estimated using three surveys: the carers survey - to
examine the proportion of male to female, part-time to full-time carers, the
labour-force survey - to calculate average earnings, and the population
estimate.
On Tuesday the Local Government Association warned the rising cost of adult
social care could "soak up" almost all of council spending by 2020.
Currently, £14.6bn is spent on adult social care services in England.
Last year the economist Andrew Dilnot was asked by ministers to look at how
funding could be changed. The Dilnot Commission recommended the means-testing
threshold for those needing residential care be increased to £100,000. It also
called for a partnership whereby individuals pay the first chunk of their care.
It recommended a cap of between £25,000 and £50,000.
Wales and Northern Ireland both have means-tested systems similar to that in
England.
Scotland provides free personal care, but in recent years has started
tightening the eligibility criteria for the same reasons councils in England
have.
