The benefits system is ‘abjectly failing’ people who provide unpaid care for sick or disabled family members and friends in Northern Ireland, according to experts.

The warning comes as new research is published today showing that nearly half (46%) of all people in Northern Ireland receiving Carer’s Allowance, the main welfare benefit for unpaid carers, are living in poverty. One in six are in ‘deep poverty’, meaning their household income is 50% below the poverty line. ^[1]

Carer’s Allowance is worth less than £80 per week, leaving many claimants in severe hardship, often struggling to afford daily essentials and forced to cut back on the likes food and heating to get by, with a severe impact on their mental health.

The new research from the Carer Poverty Commission, which is advised by unpaid carers and benefit experts from across the UK, suggests that increasing Carer’s Allowance payments to £120 per week would slash the deep poverty rate among claimants in NI by more than half and stop local carers going ‘cold and hungry’ this winter. ^[2]

Barbara Morrow, from Ballyhalbert, cares for her son and daughter, who are autistic. She said:

Our family is facing yet another bleak winter because of the continued lack of support from government and the welfare system. Carer’s Allowance barely touches the sides of the financial void we’re facing and there is a total lack of dedicated funding to help carers like me with the cost of living. When will our government recognise and value the level of care that I provide and stop leaving my disabled family members out in the cold? Making a choice on heating or eating is not acceptable, but that’s the reality for carers across Northern Ireland.”

There is concern about the impact of poverty on carers’ health. In a separate survey of local carers, also published today, those who said they were struggling financially experienced mental ill-health at nearly twice the rate as all carers in the study. ^[3]

Craig Harrison, Public Affairs Manager for Carers NI, which leads the Carer Poverty Commission, said:

To have so many recipients of Carer’s Allowance living in such dire levels of poverty tells us very clearly that the benefit isn’t fit-for-purpose. The value of Carer’s Allowance payments translates to pennies per hour for those who are caring for someone around the clock, so the benefit wouldn’t be providing adequate support even in ordinary circumstances, but especially during one of the worst cost of living crises in a generation. Trying to survive on Carer’s Allowance is forcing many local people to make gut-wrenching decisions every day. They’re having to turn their heating off, skip meals, raid their savings and get into debt because of the enormous holes in the so-called social security safety net. The benefits system is abjectly failing them, and if we don’t reform and uplift Carer’s Allowance payments now, even more unpaid carers across Northern Ireland are at real risk of going cold and hungry this winter.”

The new research from the Carer Poverty Commission also calls for wider support for unpaid carers living in poverty, including a new benefit to help them afford living essentials and greater workplace rights to make it easier to juggle work and unpaid caring.

Derek Moore, from Greysteel, County Derry~Londonderry, cares for his mum, dad and aunt. He said:

As a carer for various family members, the cost of living crisis has taken a real toll. We’re having to use the heating less because of the cost, the price of food leaves us with no choice but to buy supermarket own brands, and cuts to rural transport make it so expensive to go to hospital and other appointments. It just puts a strain on everyday life. We really need more financial support for carers and a working government to deliver it.”

Notes to editors

1. Carer’s Allowance is a welfare benefit paid to those who provide unpaid carer for a sick or disabled family member or friend for at least 35 hours per week. It is currently paid at a rate of £76.75 per week. Analysis by the Carer Poverty Commission NI shows that 46% of people in receipt of Carer’s Allowance in Northern Ireland are living in poverty, compared to 28% of carers overall, with 16% living in deep poverty. The research also shows that increasing the value of Carer’s Allowance payments by £43.25, to a value of £120 per week, would cut the deep poverty rate among claimants in Northern Ireland from 16% to 7%.
2. Policy measures to tackle poverty among unpaid carers in Northern Ireland was commissioned by Carers NI as part of the work of the Carer Poverty Commission NI, and written by independent economic and policy consultancy WPI Economics.
3. State of Caring 2023: The impact of caring on finances in Northern Ireland shows that 43% of carers who are struggling to make ends meet describe their mental health as ‘bad’ or ‘very bad’, compared to 24% of all carers.
4. The Carer Poverty Commission is led by Carers NI and funded by the Carers Support Fund. It works to understand the scale and drivers of poverty among unpaid carers in Northern Ireland and design the interventions that could make the biggest difference to tackling carer poverty, informing future policy development from the NI Assembly and Executive.
5. There are over 220,000 people providing unpaid care for sick or disabled family members and friends in Northern Ireland.
6. Carers NI is Northern Ireland’s membership charity for unpaid carers. We work to represent and support the over 220,000 people in Northern Ireland who provide unpaid care for ill, older or disabled family members or friends – fighting for increased recognition and support for all carers and to ensure they have a voice in policymaking.