In March 2025 the Centre for Care held the first in a series of policy influencing events at the House of Commons.
This event was co-hosted with Wendy Chamberlain MP and focussed on support for working carers, and the case for introducing paid leave for carers. Unpaid Carers support family, friends and neighbours with challenges related to disabilities, long-term illnesses, or older-age. However, the support that they provide often comes at a significant financial cost to them. Working alongside Wendy was a perfect partnership for the event, as she introduced a private member’s bill which became the Carer’s Leave Act which gave carers a statutory right to five days unpaid leave from employment.
One year on from the implementation of the Carer’s Leave Act, we heard from working carers Jemma and Liz about their experience of juggling employment and caring responsibilities. We were struck by their honesty and dedication to loved ones, whilst at the same time committed to their paid employment.
This event is an excellent example of the value of involving people with lived experience, practitioners and policy-makers together with researchers to share their combined expertise and passion for improving carers’ wellbeing.
Dr Maria Petrillo from the Centre for Care presented research on the income penalty of caring. Her work with colleagues in the Inequalities in Care research group found that unpaid carers who provided 50+ hours of care per week saw their personal income fall on average by £162 per month, with losses peaking at £192 per month after four years. The penalty for young carers and women was found to be higher.
Professor Kate Hamblin discussed learning from other countries and their varied approaches to carer’s leave and other related employment policies designed to support working carers. Based on her co-edited book Combining Work and Care, she highlighted how the UK currently lags behind other comparable nations in terms of the availability of paid carer’s leave, and the implications this has in terms of equity – particularly for women and workers on low or precarious incomes.
Those in attendance shared their knowledge and expertise on the barriers to and benefits of reform. Attendees included Carers UK, Carers Trust, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), National Health Service (NHS) and Women’s Budget Group (WBG) who brought a wealth of knowledge and provided insights which supported a rich discussion. They discussed the high costs of government inaction and the benefits of investing in measures which enable carers to stay in or return to work – which could enhance productivity and economic growth, as well as improving carer wellbeing. It was proposed that paid carer’s leave should be flexible and reflect the nature of caring, ideally including the option to take leave by the hour, instead of full days or half days of leave from employment.
We have now produced a consensus document on the ‘Case for Change’ which will be circulated widely to prompt and inform the efforts to influence change.
The Centre for Care made important new connections, we are looking forward to working together as a collective to build the case for change and identify opportunities to inform upcoming debates related to paid carer’s leave.
This event is the first in a series on unpaid carers; the next policy breakfast will be co-hosted with Steve Darling MP (Lib Dem spokesperson for work and pensions) and will present the research evidence in support of urgent reform of Carer’s Allowance.
What next?
Click here to read our resulting ‘Case for Change’ document (PDF)
Watch our short video from the event here:
About the author
Fay is the Impact Specialist in the Centre for Care, working with academics and external partners including stakeholders, voluntary sector organisations and policy makers to mobilise research findings to achieve impact beyond academia. Her role is to work with our researchers to plan for impact. Fay identifies partnerships and explores collaborative opportunities to ensure research findings are widely shared, to influence practice and policy.
