It is about time this abhorrent situation is hitting the headlines. I would encourage any #unpaidcarers who have been on the receiving end of this punitive practice by DWP re Carers Allowance to add their voice to the survey. Carers Leeds fully supports this campaign

As Department for Work and Pensions continues to pursue carers who have unwittingly broken tough earnings rules, Carers UK warns that carers will have to cut their hours for the 5th year in a row as minimum wages rise faster than the earnings limit Emily Holzhausen OBE explains BBC Money Box noon BBC Radio 4

Tell us your story: Unpaid carers - have you faced prosecution, or been forced to repay large sums as as result of inadvertently running up carer's allowance 'overpayments'? Have you attempted to appeal the demand for repayment?theguardian.com/society/2024/a…

“It is outrageous that the Tories have failed to use real-time information to stop overpayment.

The government need to urgently investigate why this has happened & outline what steps they are taking to rectify it.

⏰publish their report on this in full.” theguardian.com/society/2024/a…

theguardian.com/society/2024/a…

If an IT system can be configured to alert DWP, it could have been configured to alert carers too. But that wasn't a priority in the design for some reason.

🚨”One of the causes for this scandalous miscarriage is that the DWP's own IT system was able to flag when the earnings threshold was breached, but they failed to alert the carers that they were now in a perilous situation & could end up owing thousands.⤵️ bbc.co.uk/news/uk-687743…

“One of the key things this story leaves you feeling is just how little value we place on unpaid carers:' that's me, interviewed on the carer's allowance overpayment scandal by Archie Bland for today's The Guardian's First Edition newsletter theguardian.com/world/2024/apr…

This is wrong. Going after one of our many elite tax dodgers would be a better thing to be doing. Why not move staff out of the DWP to HMRC and go after the high rollers. Man convicted over benefit error worth 30p a week fights to clear his name. theguardian.com/society/2024/a…

‘A scandalous miscarriage of justice’: excellent ⁦BBC News (UK)⁩ piece by ⁦Jemma Crew⁩ and ⁦Tim Johns⁩ after dozens of listeners call into ⁦Jeremy Vine⁩ show on the carer’s allowance scandal.

Pressure growing on the DWP👇 bbc.co.uk/news/uk-687743…

theguardian.com/society/2024/a…

This week's cover story for the The New Statesman is probably the most difficult thing I've ever had to write, and certainly the most personal.
Birth trauma: the hidden childbirth crisis that is devastating lives and costing the NHS billions. newstatesman.com/politics/healt…

Carer's allowance scandal latest: 'They are just not interested in explanations. It doesn’t matter what you say... They just want the money': Josh Halliday talks to an unpaid carer forced to pay £5k for a minor breach of carer's benefit earnings rules theguardian.com/society/2024/a…

'Sara once thought the welfare state was on the side of people like her... She now knows it is a cruel welfare state, that punishes those it could support': very good piece by Professor Sue Yeandle on the carer's allowance repayment scandal centreforcare.ac.uk/commentary/202…

“In 2008, a parliamentary comm. that I advised, called for Carer’s Allowance to be ‘radically overhauled.
publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cm…

⏰It’s beyond high time for reform. Govt. & Opp parties must now commit to ending this scandal.

Give #carers the fair deal they so richly deserve.'

🚨Latest in the care scandal: the carer forced to repay £6,000 - plunging her into debt - for working three supermarket shifts while caring for partner dying from throat cancer theguardian.com/society/2024/a…

On 8th May 2024 Kate A. Hamblin Diane Burns and Cate Goodlad are speaking at the Home Care Research Forum, presenting 'Technology and care in the UK: Policy, storylines and practice'

More info & sign up here:
t.ly/kaHrL
NIHR Research King's College London

'Carer’s allowance: let’s end this scandal now!'

Prof. Sue Yeandle comments on the recent The Guardian articles on #CarersAllowance , providing context and highlighting the need for much overdue reform.

Read the piece here:
centreforcare.ac.uk/commentary/202…
#UnpaidCarers #socialcare
Economic and Social Research Council

❓What are ‘unmet care needs’?
❓How do we measure them?

In a commentary published today Jingwen Zhang addresses crucial questions around unmet care needs illustrating them with an ongoing case study in China:

Follow this link to read the piece:
t.ly/0T4nW

I know it's a long title, but it's a great PhD opportunity!