
Inequalities in Care
How does care and caring affect our lives?
Everyone’s lives will be touched by care and caring at some point. We’re interested in the ways that people and families are affected by the care that they provide or receive. This could be through the unpaid care they provide to loved ones, friends or neighbours; or as part of their jobs as a care worker.
- We’re interested in understanding the good and bad ways that people are affected in the important roles that they play for the most vulnerable in society. People are affected in many ways and every experience is unique. We want to understand the variety of care and caring experiences across a broad range of topics that are central to our lives, such as health and happiness, education and employment, and friendships and relationships.
- Our experiences of care also differ and are shaped by where we live and the stage of life we begin our caring journeys. Exploring the importance of place and time are therefore central to our understanding of the impact that care has on our lives.
- The way that social care is funded and provided also impact our lives. It means we need to understand how people find information about the support they can get, and how they provide or finance the care that they need. We need to understand how people can be better supported to make decisions about the care they need or provide, and the ways in which providers and employers can do their bit to make things better, too.
- We are also interested in understanding who needs care and the quality of care that is received. This will enable us to plan more effectively for the future and understand how care can be improved.
- Most importantly, we want to know what we can do to improve the situation for people and provide the evidence and tools that can support people to live the lives they choose.
Commentary on Inequalities in Care
Commentary pieces relating to Inequalities in Care team
A new commentary in our ‘The Transitions that Matter’ series: Anne Pridmore shares her experience of transitioning through a changing care system in England, starting in the 1980s.
Read More about Transitioning through the care systemChristie Butcher outlines the statistics relating to carers in employment and explores the policy in place to support working carers – including the new Right to Carers Leave Bill.
Read More about The Right to Carer’s Leave Bill is a good start but we need to go furtherDr Erika Kispeter revisits a report by the House of Lords Adult Social Care Committee, entitled ‘A “gloriously ordinary life’’: spotlight on adult social care’, published in December 2022, to explore what could be missing.
Read More about Reflections on the visibility of the social care workforceContinuing our ‘Transitions that Matter’ commentary series, Adrian Murray writes his experiences during the COVID-19 lockdowns and how everyday life has been impacted.
Read More about Transitioning into lockdown and getting stuck there
Recent Publications
A selection of recent publications from the Inequalities in Care team.
Members
The Inequalities in Care team is led by Professor Matt Bennett at the University of Sheffield.