Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-7qhmt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-28T05:30:31.359Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Citizen Carer: Carer's Allowance and Conceptualisations of UK Citizenship

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 April 2015

BENEDICT E. SINGLETON
Affiliation:
School of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences, Örebro University, Sweden. email: ben.singleton@oru.se
GARY FRY
Affiliation:
Independent researcher, UK. email: gary.fry@virgin.net

Abstract

Carers make a considerable contribution to the health and social care of sick or disabled people, reducing the strain on health and social care systems. This has been recognised through support mechanisms, including (in the UK) a payment for caring (Carer's Allowance – CA). This article draws upon data from a study of carers receiving CA. Utilising a citizenship perspective, it examines respondents’ perspectives on their role in the UK and shows how CA provides not only financial support but also contributes to normative conceptualisations of citizenship. The data highlight the primacy of paid work in UK citizenship, as well as the stigma associated with receiving welfare benefits. The article concludes by claiming that changes to the UK benefit system need to take into account a ‘recognition’ aspect, reformulating what is considered a worthwhile contribution to society.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Arksey, H. and Morée, M. (2008), ‘Supporting working carers: do policies in England and the Netherlands Reflect “Doulia Rights”?’, Health and Social Care in the Community, 16: 6, 649–57.Google ScholarPubMed
Arksey, H., Wigfield, A. and Yeandle, S. (2011), ‘A new programme of training for carers: caring with confidence’, in Yeandle, S. and Wigfield, A. (eds.), Training and Supporting Carers: The National Evaluation of the Caring with Confidence Programme, Leeds: CIRCLE, University of Leeds, pp. 17.Google Scholar
Barnes, M. (2007), ‘Participation, citizenship and a feminist ethic of care’, in Balloch, S. and Hill, M. (eds.), Care, Community and Citizenship, Bristol: The Policy Press, pp. 5974.Google Scholar
Buckner, L. and Yeandle, S. (2005), We Care: Do You, London: Carers UK.Google Scholar
Buckner, L. and Yeandle, S. (2007), Valuing Carers – Calculating the Value of Unpaid Care, London: Carers UK.Google Scholar
Buckner, L. and Yeandle, S. (2011), Valuing Carers 2011: Calculating the Value of Carers’ Support, London: Carers UK.Google Scholar
Chopra, D. (2014), ‘Towards gender equality with care-sensitive social protection’, IDS Policy Briefing 49, Brighton: IDS.Google Scholar
Dahlberg, L., Demack, S. and Bambra, C. (2007), ‘Age and gender of informal carers: a population-based study in the UK’, Health and Social Care in the Community, 15: 5, 439–45.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Department for Work and Pensions (2014), DWP Quarterly Statistical Summary: First Release, https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/299830/stats-summary-feb14.pdf.Google Scholar
Department for Work and Pensions (2010), Universal Credit: Welfare That Works, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-welfare-that-works.Google Scholar
Department of Health (1999), Caring About Carers: A National Strategy for Carers, London: Department of Health.Google Scholar
Erel, U. (2012), ‘Introduction: transnational care in Europe – changing formations of citizenship, family, and generation’, Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State and Society, 19: 1, 114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fry, G., Singleton, B., Yeandle, S. and Buckner, L. (2011), Developing a Clearer Understanding of the Carer's Allowance Claimant Group, London: Department for Work and Pensions.Google Scholar
Government Digital Service (2014), ‘Carer's Allowance’, https://www.gov.uk/carers-allowance (accessed 24 July 2014).Google Scholar
Herd, P. and Harrington Meyer, M. (2002), ‘Care work: invisible civic engagement’, Gender and Society, 16: 5, 665–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Government, HM (2008), Carers at the Heart of 21st-Century Families and Communities, London: The Stationery Office.Google Scholar
Government, HM (2010), Refreshing the National Carers Strategy: Call for Evidence, London: Department of Health.Google Scholar
Government, HM (2012), The Welfare Reform Act 2012, Norwich: The Stationery Office.Google Scholar
Isin, E. F. and Turner, B. S. (2007), ‘Investigating citizenship: an agenda for citizenship studies’, Citizenship Studies, 11: 1, 517.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knijn, T. and Kremer, M. (1997), ‘Gender and the caring dimension of welfare states: toward inclusive citizenship’, Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State and Society, 4: 3, 328–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krueger, R. A. (1994), Focus Groups: A Practical Guide to Applied Research, 3rd edn, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Lister, R. (2007), ‘Inclusive citizenship: realizing the potential’, Citizenship Studies, 11: 1, 4961.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
National Audit Office (2009), Supporting Carers to Care, London: The Stationery Office.Google Scholar
Office for National Statistics (2013), 2011 Census Analysis: Unpaid Care in England and Wales, 2011 and Comparison with 2001, http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011-census-analysis/provision-of-unpaid-care-in-england-and-wales-2011/art-provision-of-unpaid-care.html.Google Scholar
Parreñas, R. S. (2001), ‘Transgressing the nation-state: the partial citizenship and imagined (global) community of migrant Filipina domestic workers’, Signs, 26: 4, 1129–54.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Parker, G., Clarke, S., Corden, A., Irvine, A. and Glendinning, C. (2014), Household Finances of Carer's Allowance Recipients, Department for Work and Pensions Research Report, No. 875, London: Department for Work and Pensions.Google Scholar
Phillips, J., Bernard, M. and Chittenden, M. (2002), Juggling Work and Care: The Experiences of Working Carers of Older Adults, York: The Policy Press and Joseph Rowntree Foundation.Google Scholar
Potter, J. and Wetherell, M. (1987), Discourse and Social Psychology, London: SAGE Publications.Google Scholar
Sevenhuijsen, S. (2000), ‘Caring in the third way: the relation between obligation, responsibility and care in Third Way discourse’, Critical Social Policy, 20: 1, 537.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tronto, J. (2005), ‘Care as the work of citizens. a modest proposal’, in Friedman, Marilyn (ed.), Women and Citizenship, Cary, NC: Oxford University Press, pp. 130–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vickerstaff, S., Loretto, W., Milne, A., Alden, E., Billings, J. and White, P. (2009), Employment Support for Carers, Norwich: Her Majesty's Stationery Office.Google Scholar
Yeandle, S., Buse, C. and Joynes, V. (2011), ‘The National Carers’ Strategy demonstrator sites programme’, in Yeandle, Sue and Wigfield, Andrea (eds.), New Approaches to Supporting Carers’ Health and Well-being: Evidence from the National Carers’ Strategy Demonstrator Sites Programme, Leeds: CIRCLE, University of Leeds, pp. 110.Google Scholar