Eldercare Vouchers back on the agenda

We attended the Employers for Carers event hosted by BT last month. MP Jonathan Shaw, in charge of the Department for Work and Pensions, was the guest speaker. He discussed the frightening figure that currently there are 4 people in employment for every retired person. This ratio is likely to reduce to 2:1 by 2050. When you consider that nearly half the country works for the Public Sector, the numbers start to get worrying. Employers know they need to find cost effective ways to support their employees with eldercare needs, the question is how?

Dependent care in the UK seems fundamentally broken. The line between Social Services (horribly under funded) and the NHS (relatively well funded) is almost impossible to navigate. The Government's obsession with complicated and measurable supply side benefits adds massively to the confusion. When challenged, Jonathan Shaw said that reducing the 25 benefits currently available was a high priority! If the system is broken and under-funded now the future doesn't bear thinking about.

Unfortunately it's the role of HR departments to plan for the future. So what will you do? The priority for every employer must be the sharing of knowledge. Employees with care issues should not be alone, struggling to understand the potential solutions. We'd like to see a financial incentive for companies to support their working carers. Is it likely? Well, possibly... further cuts are needed whatever the outcome of the election.

Campaign for Eldercare Vouchers

Finally there seems to have been an acceptance that the money spent on Childcare Vouchers has had a direct and beneficial impact on the childcare market. From there it's an easy jump to realise employer/ dependent care tax breaks, which could make a real difference to the dependent care market. If you want to know more about the campaign for Eldercare Vouchers or want to look at the dependent care needs of your staff, either speak to us or the team at Employers for Carers.