‘The failures of the government, limited infrastructure available to orchestrate a collective strategy as well as the precarity and low pay in the care sector have undoubtedly caused almost 30,000 Covid-19 deaths.’
This is from a recent blog by the Women’s Budget Group looking at the underlying problems in the social care sector that left it so vulnerable to Covid-19.
The blog highlights issues around easements to the Care Act 2004, the precarious nature of care work, privatisation of the care system, regional inequality in service provision and funding.
The authors call for a short-term funding injection via local authorities, and the beginning of a new settlement for the sector, with proper investment in social infrastructure.