The Big Conversation on Care is the latest attempt to fix England’s broken social care system. Getting a handle on this issue has been attempted no fewer than 22 times since the 1990s – but Prime Minister Andy Burnham has vowed that this time they’ll find the right answers. But what might these be – and will the tough choices on how to pay for it lose Labour votes?

More pay, more prestige for care workers

Anna Barford, Research Professor, Language Technology Lab

Care is a broad concept covering things like cooking, cleaning, childcare, teaching and healthcare. These labour-intensive activities are essential to enable individuals, communities and societies to survive in the face of challenges such as poverty, economic shocks and climate change. As such, spending on care should be seen as an investment rather than a cost.

Care needs are met by a diverse set of people, including the family or household, volunteers, not-for-profit organisations, businesses, and the state. Some of this work is paid (often underpaid), while some is unpaid. And it falls disproportionally on women.

England’s social care budget does not cover this full range of activities. For adult social care, the budget includes spending on community-based support as well as care homes. Investing in adult social care translates into better jobs, better-supported families, and care needs that are met more fully. Burnham’s speech pointed to this, with his plans to increase pay and prestige in the social care workforce.

Spending should be understood within the wider ecosystem of care. However, decision-makers often overlook how unpaid care work, paid care work and other paid work relate to one another. As paid and unpaid care is largely done by women, well-paid care work could improve gender pay gaps. And providing paid-for support for care activities can free up women’s time to do paid work. For example, providing childminders and carers for elderly relatives can help to balance the competing demands on women’s time.

Fixing social care is a huge – and expensive – job

Conor O'Kane, Senior Lecturer in Economics

The prime minister has outlined what he would like social care reform to look like. Broadly speaking, he wants to see better pay and........

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