I am caring for my adult daughter who has difficulties with her mental health. Although she does not live with me I spend a lot of my week supporting her with day to day tasks like shopping, cleaning, attending appointments and emotional support. I am finding myself increasingly supporting her financially which has an impact on my own finances and is causing me a lot of stress.
Firstly, you are not alone. Caring comes with additional costs that can have a significant impact on carers’ finances and many carers suffer financial hardship. 44% of working-age adults who are caring for 35 hours or more a week are in poverty. (Joseph Rowntree Foundation, UK Poverty 2022).
One of the primary drivers for these levels of poverty is the difficulty in combining paid work with being a family carer – many family carers are unable to work full-time, or at all due to their caring responsibilities. The gap is exacerbated by the inadequacy of social security benefits such as Carer’s Allowance, which is one of the lowest benefits of its kind. You can find out more about the latest Carers UK report
Take a look at the support network for you and your cared for. Sharing the load can help you balance life and also help you take care of yourself. Is anyone around you able to help with those day to day tasks, and emotional support? Seek some advice from Citizen’s Advice Bureau who can offer free and impartial advice with finances, and signpost you to any additional financial support you or your cared for may qualify for.
How can we help?
1:1 Support – You may like to contact Suffolk Family Carers SAGES Service. Our SAGES workers offer advice, guidance and emotional support. You are able to talk in depth about your caring role to an empathetic, non-judgmental listener. This may help you to offload emotionally, and help you to feel more motivated to spend quality time with your family and friends.
Peer Support – You may also like to attend the Making Time …. Mental Health Family Carers Support Group. This is an opportunity to connect with others in a similar caring role. The group meets once a month and allows Family Carers to come together to share experiences and ideas. This can be done by taking part in an activity or just sitting and chatting with those that really understand the impact of caring for someone with mental health illness. Please contact us for more information.
Suffolk Family Carers Workshops. You may also like to attend a workshop facilitated by the Mental Health and Wellbeing Service team. Further details can be found on the Suffolk Family Carers website
Carers Assessments – you may like to refer to Customer First for a Carers Assessment. A Carer’s Assessment is your chance to let Suffolk County Council know how your caring role affects you physically and emotionally.
This may also help you to recognise your unmet needs with an opportunity to explore solutions on how those needs can be met to better balance your own needs with those of your caring role and take care of your own wellbeing. Please visit the SCC website more information or call Customer First on 0808 800 4005.
Additional Support
Carers UK – provide a very user friendly website with information around financial support and where to access it.
Wellbeing Suffolk – can help i you feel your own Mental Health is affected, you can refer yourself to Suffolk Wellbeing for support. They can also offer specialised support with navigating your employment around your role and offer 1-1 appointments as well as a variety of workshops.
Citizen’s Advice Bureau – Your local Citizen’s Advice Bureau can offer free and impartial advice with finances if you are concerned about the impact of changing your working hours as well as other support you may be entitled to.
Suffolk Libraries – Your local library offers much more than a service for the borrowing and reading of books. Libraries have become information hubs. If there is something going on in your community, it’s very likely that your local library has all the details.
