Working

[chip]

I am in a position that i now need to find work to secure the future for myself. On reading some of the other threads when my husband goes into care it looks like i will be left with nothing to live of. I have 18years before i am of retirement age then what? This worries me greatly. What will happen to my husband if i do get work? I can't even get respite or go on holiday due to lack of care places.
I hope i don't seem thoughtless but after having Dementia in the family 2 uncles mother, mother-in-law and now my husband No holidays for 7years. Its telling on me. Do i work or not. Will i have anything to life with?

 

[DickG]

Hi Chip

What a difficult problem you have. Firstly looking at the purely financial matter, time is against you securing your retirement unless you have a well above average earning capacity. I am no financial expert but consider this - if you have £100,000 to invest you would be lucky to receive £100 a week in interest. On the financial side you would do well to seek professional advice to get a realistic view of your probable retirement financial situation.

On the personal side - you have many years ahead of you and you are not selfish to consider yourself and the effect that careing has on you. Persevere with seeking respite, enlist the aid of social workers ( I have been pleasantly suprised by their helpfulness particularly if you treat them like the professionals they are), contact the Alzheimers Society for advice and try all avenues.

You really are a tough cookie if you are still coping after seven years and you certainly deserve respite.

Keep in touch.

Hugs

Dick

 

[chip]

Don't have near that amount. Also money going down fast. As for Social Services the one we had tried so hard to get respite in place but everything fell through due to age. She said it was bad here. She is no longer in Scotland. Never heard from a new Social Worker thats since July. Spent my birthday phoning up getting passed on eventualy got through to the right people who even found the file. Was told i "should" hear soon. I have to fight for everything. I have involved my member of parliament. All the advice, carers places are getting complants about no respite here. no correct places for younger people.

 

[Helena]

I thought care for dementia patients in Scotland was supposed to be free
Have you contacted the Scotish Alzheimers Society ......they have a 0800 number

If you are not working then surely you get carers allowance /attendance allowance and other benefits

Is the house in your name or joint names

Surely they cant take your life from you like this its disgraceful

 

[chip]

Yes contacted Alzheimers they also came up blank and counldn't help with respite all for elderly. Also no its not free in Scotland for working age sufferers, only for retired people. Yes get carers allowance but that gets paid out again as i have to pay so much a week towards care if i get care in. Don't get attendance allowance as he is too young but get IB. House is in both names also. Son is also unemployed and doesn't get a thing. Boss sacked him he worked with his dad two weeks before we got the Dementia results son got blamed boss knew when to strike us. Hence we both really need a job.

 

[DickG]

I find it strange that you get carers allowance and not attendance allowance as in my experience it is easier to get attendance allowance than carers allowance. If your husband needs someone "in attendance" to help him and he cannot be left unattended you should qualify.

I am not aware of the situation in Scotland, do you have a Citizens Advice Bureau that you could go to for advice? Has your husband or yourself ever been a member of the armed forces? - if so you are entitled to approach the Royal British Legion for help and advice. Do not give up and keep on exploring all avenues for help

Do keep in touch.

Dick

 

[Margarita]

I know in England you cannot get attendance allowances if you are under 65 or 60.you can get Disability living allowance, if you are under that age.

How old are you and your husband ?

 

[DMWalker]

Disability Living Allowance

Hi there,

So sorry to here about your predicament, you can apply for DLA, ring 0131 2299191 if you live in the Edinburgh area or 0141 2493500 for the Glasgow area and ask for a DLA claim form for your husband.

I work at DLA, my husband receives lower rate mobility and middle rate care, I will put in for the higher rate of care when he needs more attention through the night, hopefully that won't be for many years yet.

You can apply for Carers Allowance if you look after someone for more than 35 hours each week, of course there are some other rules but there is a lot of information on the internet in Direct.gov.

Hope this helps, keep in touch.

Dee

 

[Nebiroth]

In my experience it is much easier to get Carer Allowance than it is to get either Disability Allowance (which is for people under state retirement age) or Attendance Allowance (which is for people over state retirement age).

I managed to get Attendance Allowance for my Dad, by filling in the forms myself, but I would most strongly advise that anyone thinking of applying to get professional help with filling in the forms. Citizens Advice, Age Concern, etc, can help you with this.

They will not only know the sort of things that the person who assesses the form will be looking for, they will know exactly what to write, and they will also most likely think of many things you have come to take for granted and would not write down yourself. The forms are now less "guided" in that instead of asking many questions, you are just asked to describe problems at length in your own words.

Carer Allowance, on the other hand, is just a matter of filling in a form that is mainly tick boxes, and getting the person you care for sign to declare you spend at least 35 hours a week caring for them (with the usual provisions for people unable to sign). There is no person making an assessment of needs, etc - you either qualify or you don't. The person you care for must be getting DA at the middle or higher rate, or AA of either rate. You can also work and earn a certain amount and still get CA.

The decision process for DA and AA can be quite long - up to 10 weeks - but that for CA is much faster.

If your income is low, and you have only small savings, then you might also qualify for Income Support, on top of CA.

Importantly, if you get CA, then you will also get National Insurance credits, which will boost your elligibility for State Pension.

There are also other benefits you might be able to get, such as Council Tax Benefit.

There are many rules, of course; if you have not applied for any benefits, then you should be contacting your Social Services office or Citizens Advice ASAP.

Remember - these benefits are a right.

Finances are usually mentioned at some point during a patients followup assessments - in fact, the visiting occupational therapist started to talk about Attendance Allowance and what did the carer do for money and got flummoxed when I told her I;d sorted that all by myself, including filling in the forms!

 

[Margarita]

Care allowances is a joke really I got a letter from them the other day asking me if my circumstances have change also if my mother go in to respite to let them know so that means they put a stop to it on the weeks that mum in respite . I only get £25 a week care allowance so am not going to claim it anymore. I get incapacity benefit, I know I can came come of incapacity benefit then get income support, am not going down that road. I will keep my incapacity benefit as I am claiming back my National insurance that I have paid in to the system over the years I have work.

In addition, if I was to go back to work you can only earn around £79 & get carer allowances. Ok so claiming carer allowance I still get a pension in the future, but then I can also get AD in the future when I am a pensioner; I have a Mark Spencer’s pension anyway some saveing so am I worried no broke yes lol and a roof over my head .

 

[chip]

food for thought

Care allowance is a joke. If you worked as a carer you get a lot more. I have a bill for £135.80 for 8hrs care and £261.90 for 13hrs care i would only have to work 13hrs to get a weeks wage. To think thats what we are all doing for how many hours a week? What should our wage be? What would happen if we all " went on strike" for a week. How much would it cost the Government? Are agencies making the most of the bad situation charging high rates? What would happen if i contacted the agency went on their books the social services would pay the agency the agency would pay me!!!. 1 day would do!!! Anyone game to try it? At least you would be getting more than the carers allowance and also paying NI and also doing what you do everyday yet get a weeks wage for 1 day.
Just thinking how bad the system is. Food for thought 35hrs a week carers allowance £46 is £1.31 hr and how many of us do a lot more than that? £261 for 13hours is £20.07 a hour.!!!!!!!!!!! I could live and have a holiday on working one day a week.

 

[Tender Face]

Hiya Chip!!!

So agree with you about the 'nonsense' ... try this one.... never have had Carer's Allowance - made an enquiry ages back but understood I had to be 'caring' for 35 hours per week to qualify..... and that could only be for ONE person.... so, times when I have been 'caring' for mum, looking after hubby when he was ill - and managing to fit in my most important role of being 'mum' meant I was NOT a carer??????!!!! (Because I could not declare I gave any one of the three people who depend on me a 'solid' 35 hours care!!!!) So, the more people you care for, it seems, the less chance you have of gaining any financial help in doing so!!!!

Chip, I have pondered taking an extra 'part-time' job as a carer ... wondered if I could get evening shifts with a local agency I could actually engineer the situation where I was paid to go and check in on my own mum...... how mad/sad does it get???

Here's a hug for now,

Love Karen, x

 

[Nebiroth]

That's right, you can't add up the hours you care for multiple people. The 35 hours have to be dedicated to one person, it doesn't matter if you spent 100 hours a week caring, unless 35 hours of that is dedicated to one person, you won't get anything.

Moreover, you don't get any increase, no matter how many hours over the 35 you spend.

Wonder how many working people would be happy to be told "we're doubling your hours next week, same pay".

Carers save the state gigantic amounts of money, think what it would cost to pay a professional carer for a 35 hour week (or 45, or 65, or 85 hours), then think about extra pay for nighttime.

In fact we can guess from the charges that local authorities levy when they do provide care.

And it;s even worse when you consider the costs of all the extra people who would have to go into care homes/hospitals.

They know that we cannot and will not abandon our loved ones.

I reckon I spend about 70-80 hours a week, so Carer Allowance works out to be less than £1/hour.

I'd get five times that stacking shelves in a supermarket!

It really feels like moral blackmail.

 

[Amy]

Question: What rights and responsibilities does being a member of a family give us? Should we expect recompense for caring to be comparable with commercial rates? If so, when I had my children should the state have paid me a salary for staying at home to care for them, comparable with what I would have paid a nursery?
Helen

 

[Tender Face]

Question: What rights and responsibilities does being a member of a family give us? Should we expect recompense for caring to be comparable with commercial rates? If so, when I had my children should the state have paid me a salary for staying at home to care for them, comparable with what I would have paid a nursery?
Helen

Answer: Some rights and responsibilities are our choice.... when responsibilities are forced upon us and include bearing financial hardship as well as the emotional and physical exertion/despair of caring for someone who is desperately ill... then I think it's a different ball-game..... I see my rights and responsibilities to my mum (whom I had no choice about) as very different to those I have to my husband .... and then again my child......

Recompense is easily measurable in financial terms..... the reward from loving and caring can be infinite...... (as well as the measure of negatives)....

Is it me, or is TP very political this evening......??? Don't start me off!!!! (Oh, sorry, I already have...!!!!)

When's the next General Election????

Love all, TF

 

[Nebiroth]

I do not see it as recompense, but I do think that the roughly £47/week is inadequate as something to be able to live on.

Why is it that carers are expected to subsist on this amount, when (for example) there is an acknowledgement that a pensioner cannot live on the Basic State Pension which is £84/week (hence pension credit). The same reasoning lies behind Minimum Wage - ie people cannot be expected to live if their income does not meet a certain minimum requirement.

It might also be argued that (for most people at least) having children is a choice - the same cannot be said for having a dear one becoming disabled and in need of care.

Of course I'd go on caring if there was no carer allowance, I would have to manage somehow. I don't know how though.

 

[Amy]

Unhelpful reply!!

 

[Lynne]

When's the next General Election????

And what difference do you think that will make, please ? There's damn all choice or difference between what's on offer! Even if you have a good local man, he has to toe the party line in Westminster, not represent what his local constituents need or feel. It's all a con. Millions spent on every election, to no purpose. If there's a change of Party they just spend more millions undoing what the last lot did, before they even think about doing anything positive.

 

[chip]

child benifit 1st child £69.80 then £46.80 for each child in addition a lot of parents work as well (thats both) with the grandparents looking after the kids or after school clubs. I need to work now but can't as i can't get enough care i get 10hrs a week and have to pay £32 towards it so carers allowance goes down to £14. How much will i have to pay for a weeks care if i work. I keep saying you can't afford to be ill in your working age. In the form i filled in for the Social Services i put down all the outgoings the only thing that was taken in consideration was the council tax just the part of it my husband is to pay no bills at all were taken in to it. Is that right?
It is totaly different looking after children than someone with this illness

 

[DickG]

Karen, Lynne

Many years of observing the political scene has made me realise that the political credo is " support your supporters - stuff the rest, pander to the strong - screw the weak". The sole purpose of politicians is to assume and retain power and everything else is subordinate to that aim. Am I a cynic? you bet your boots I am.

We as carers are only capable of acheive our aims if we band together and become strong for we are a diverse bunch and so are not able to influence politicians as supporters.

That was a party political broadcast on behalf of the "Sod 'em all party"

Dick