The ALLIANCE urges UK Government to follow through on proposals for paid carer’s leave
- Area of Work: Policy and Research
- Type: News Item
- Published: 2nd September 2026
Paid leave would help support unpaid carers to balance work and caring, making it easier for them to enter and remain in employment.
The ALLIANCE have submitted a response to the UK Government’s consultation on “Employment rights for unpaid carers and parents of seriously ill children.”
Unpaid carers make an enormous contribution to individual health and wellbeing, to wider society, and to the economy. They are invaluable and irreplaceable, yet they are not always appropriately valued through our social security and employment systems. This consultation offers positive suggestions for how to improve unpaid carers’ experiences of employment, and the ALLIANCE warmly welcome all the proposals put forward: unpaid carer’s leave, the right to return, paid carer’s leave, and paid leave for the parents of seriously ill children.
We especially strongly support the proposal to introduce paid carer’s leave. Given that poverty rates amongst unpaid carers are much higher than amongst the general population, offering paid carer’s leave has the greatest potential to support carers to remain in and enter employment, whilst improving their personal finances. However, it is important that the interplay between employment and social security payments for carers (known as the Carer Support Payment in Scotland) is recognised.
The current “cliff-edge”, which creates a band of income between approximately £10,000 and £14,000 where carers are made worse off by taking on additional work as they lose entitlement to that payment and its England and Wales equivalent, should be replaced with a taper. This would further help to support carers to remain in and enter employment, as well as make better use of their skills and qualifications by taking on better paid work.
You can read the full response via the resource links below.
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