@andyburnham Every day, carers get people washed, dressed, fed, medicated, comforted, and treated with dignity. They notice the small changes that signal a person is declining. They sit with fear, grief, confusion, and loneliness. They do this in people’s homes, in care homes, and in hospitals, often with little time, little pay, and almost no public recognition. Most of that work will never be seen by anyone who does not need it. That does not make it less skilled or less vital.
Low pay and low status send a clear message: this work does not matter as much as other work. That message is wrong. Caring is skilled labour. It requires patience, judgement, physical stamina, emotional strength, and the ability to treat another human being as fully human when they are at their most vulnerable. When we look down on carers, we look down on the people they look after as well.
Making “carer” an official, respected job title would not be window dressing. It would be an honest description of the role. Professional recognition, decent pay, proper training, and career pathways would tell people that this work is worth building a life around. Pride follows from that. People do not feel proud of a job society treats as leftover work.
We will all need care one day, or someone we love will. The system that provides it should not depend on quiet sacrifice and people working themselves into exhaustion. Paying carers properly and treating the work with the dignity it already has is not a luxury. It is how a society looks after its own.
The work is already there. The people doing it are already there. What is missing is the respect that matches the reality of what they do.
I am determined to be the one to fix our social care system.