CARING for a sick or disabled loved one is one of the hardest jobs that might befall any of us.
As the population lives longer it is likely to be a challenge that more and more of us will face as cases of cancer, dementia and age-related degenerative conditions rise.
Unless there is a major (and much-needed) overhaul in how we fund the social care system, it will be left to spouses, children and parents to fill in the gaps.
So it was interesting to discover just how differently New Zealand is approaching the issue of supporting carers financially compared to the paltry provision in place in the UK.
Under legislation due to come into force from 2020, spouses will be entitled to payments of $20.50 to $25.50NZ an hour (approximately £11-14/hour) to look after an ill or disabled partner, up to a maximum of 40 hours a week.
READ MORE: Devastating report reveals crisis in Scotland's care sector
To put it into context, the UK carer's allowance pays out just £66.15 per week and only then if someone is spending at least 35 hours a week on caring duties and the person cared for is in receipt of certain welfare benefits, such as disability living allowance.
In Scotland, a carer's allowance supplement tops that up by £226.20 every six months - an extra £8.70 per week.
On that basis, while a full-time carer in New Zealand could soon be compensated up to £560 a week, the best their counterpart in Scotland could hope for is £74.85.
The changes in New Zealand come after a long campaign to address anomalies in its Family Funded Care policy, introduced in 2013, which had excluded spouses or partners from claiming the payments.
Coverage is also being extended to parents with children under 18.
READ MORE: Better-off elderly 'propping up' cash-strapped care homes
The pay rate is equal to that of community-based and care home staff employed in New Zealand's public sector and, somewhat controversially, follows a model whereby the carer is 'employed' by the cared-for person.
Nonetheless, it is surely more compassionate than the scenario facing carers in the UK, even with Scotland's more generous free personal care provision.
Of course, none of this comes for free and it would be up to taxpayers here to vote for something similar.
READ MORE: New Zealand newspaper reports that Brexit has scuppered a Lord of the Rings shoot in Scotland
Good social care is expensive but the consequences of under-funding it are catastrophic, both in terms of the emotional toll on families and systematically on the health service forced to pick up the pieces.
Not all parents or spouses might feel able to take on the burden of caring full-time. Professional or residential alternatives must be available too.
But many would surely appreciate being fairly paid to look after their loved one than entrust that care to the state.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel