Why Do Carers Matter

Part A: Essay
Title: Why can it be difficult to decide whether or not a person is a carer, and does it matter? Base your answer on the case of someone you know.

A carer is generally viewed as an individual who provides unpaid support to family or friends who could not manage without this help. However to get recognition or any form of support for being a carer an individual would have to meet the governments definition of being a carer and also fit quite a number of conditions. A government website agrees that …. The word ‘carer’ means someone who looks after a friend, relative or neighbour who needs support because of their sickness, age or disability. If this was the case then many people who may consider or could be considered as carers would fall short of this label. In this essay we shall focus on children as carers of elderly parents.
My case is based on a neighbour who will be referred to as Mrs K. Mrs K is in her mid-60s and suffers from Diabetes; she quite regularly needs help with household chores and shopping. Mrs K helps her children out by looking after the grandchildren once in a while. T is the child that does most of the ‘caring’ for the elderly parents. T will be our main focus within this essay, for the purpose of assessing her as a carer.
As stated above in order for an individual to receive financial and practical support as carers they must meet the official definitions of the work of carers.
We shall now assess T against the four complicating factors as identified in unit 1 starting with Duration and Frequency. T works part-time due to having young children. This also then gives her more time than her siblings to provide more care for her parents. She helps out with household chores on a daily basis, however so do her siblings so the amount of time she puts in is possibly not more than the thirty-five hours a week required to qualify for Carer’s allowance. But T sees her daily support towards her elderly parents as her duty towards them. By her not providing the 35 hours of support during the week, does not make her less of a carer in her eyes than some that does. Also due to the fact that her parents are not registered or recognised as disabled she would not be able to apply for ‘Carers allowance’ anyways, so should this restrict her from caring for someone that she loves? I doubt anyone would just ignore people they love for a little amount of
money.
We could argue that in order for T to possibly be seen as an official carer in the eyes of others, she would need her parents to accept the fact that they need looking after. In this situation Mr and Mrs K would have to accept the label/identity of a ‘cared for person’. Realistically if you are looking after someone out of love, why would you want the recognition of being someone’s carer? It should just be recognised that you are a carer for your parents when they are in need of support.
In regards to Interdependence, Mrs K still manages to make meals for her husband and looks after the grandchildren when she is able to. She herself could also be classed as a carer for her husband and the fact that her children rely on her to look after their children at times.
In terms of networks Mrs K has a large family upon whom she can rely for caring needs; she has four children plus their partners and children.