Guest blog: A call for the next Scottish election – support a Minimum Income Guarantee for carers!

There are 627,715 unpaid carers in Scotland and both the number of carers and the intensity of caring has been increasing since the last time the Census was carried out.

Alongside this, the reliance on carers has risen significantly, with too many left providing care with little or no support from health and social care services. With an increasingly ageing population, our reliance on their carers’ unpaid work will inevitably continue to grow but how Scotland supports them must change.

Despite saving Scotland £15.9 billion each year[1], caring comes at a great individual cost – with higher levels of poverty and poorer health than non-carers. For many, their ability to be in paid work is restricted, with research[2] showing that a significant proportion are forced to give up work to care or reduce their working hours[3], damaging their earning and career prospects and their ability to save for retirement.

Unpaid carer poverty is deeply entrenched and research shows that more than a quarter (28%) live in poverty, 56% higher than non-carers (18%)[4]. It is even higher for those in receipt of social security. For example, for those who receive a carer element/addition in a mean-tested benefit, the level of poverty reaches a shocking 60%.

And for those who have told Carers Scotland that they are “struggling to make ends meet”, 35% are in debt, 23% are using foodbanks and 59% are cutting back on essentials such as heating simply to get by[5].  It is perhaps no wonder, that carers have poorer physical and mental health than non-carers, with 54% experiencing poor physical health and 27% poor mental health as a result of their caring role[6].

Real and lasting action to change this picture for carers is desperately needed but progress has been slow. The Scottish Government have improved the main benefit for carers (Carer Support Payment) and introduced a Carer’s Allowance Supplement, but carers’ own income remains at less than £100 per week for a minimum 35 hours of unpaid work.

That’s where the Minimum Income Guarantee could be the transformational change that unpaid carers need - and indeed deserve. With IPPR Scotland, Carers Scotland have developed a proposal for the Scottish Government to harness the powers they have to pilot a MIG for 1000 carers on the lowest incomes. The pilot would seek to increase income and reduce costs and help carers, through an enhanced Adult Carer Support Plan and local networks, to access holistic support that can improve their health and wellbeing. Such a pilot has the potential to test the approach and measure outcomes and support the development of a wider MIG for all carers.

There are clear societal benefits to delivering a MIG for carers. With 1000 people a day becoming carers and 3 in 5 of us likely to be a carer in our lifetime, quite simply, it everyone’s interests to change the way we support carers and reduce the inequality, poverty and ill health faced they face.  Whilst a MIG for all people may be some years away, the Scottish Government and all parties in the Parliament can commit to making the steps to reduce poverty and inequality and to improve opportunity – and a MIG for carers is one such step. We will urge all parties now and in the upcoming Scottish election to offer their support for a MIG for carers – and change the price we expect carers to pay for caring.

Read the report at: https://www.carersuk.org/media/4gkfv3do/carers_scotland_mig_web.pdf

[1] Valuing Carers 2022: Scotland, Carers Scotland and Centre for Care, November 2024

[2] State of Caring State of Caring 2024 - Paid work and access to employment for unpaid carers

[3] ibid

[4] Poverty and financial hardship of unpaid carers in Scotland, Carers Scotland, WPI Economics and abrdn Financial Fairness Trust, 2024

[5] State of Caring, Carers Scotland 2024

[6] State of Caring 2023: A health and social care crisis for carers in Scotland, Carers Scotland