Businesses in England lost £3.2bn last year because people had to leave their job or change their working patterns to care for someone with dementia, a leading Alzheimer’s charity has said.
Of the 355,000 people of working age caring for a loved one with dementia, more than 147,000 have had to reduce their work hours or have had difficulty balancing work and caring. More than 112,000 people had to give up their job in the past year, with many retiring early because of their caring commitments.
The research, conducted by the Centre for Economics and Business Research for the Alzheimer’s Society, revealed that the cost of dementia to England’s businesses has increased by £1.6bn in the past four years and is expected to rise to £6.3bn by 2040.
Jeremy Hughes, the chief executive of the Alzheimer’s Society, said: “Up and down the country families are desperately trying and often failing to get the good-quality dementia care their loved ones need. Instead, more than 100,000 people have had no choice but to leave their jobs and try to care for their loved ones themselves.
“The knock-on cost to businesses is only going to get bigger, with more and more people set to develop dementia, and no solution put in place to sort out social care. It’s devastating for people with dementia, devastating for their families and carers, a drain on the NHS and now we see how badly it’s affecting our economy.
“This can’t go on. The government must overhaul social care to ensure a minimum standard of care and security for everyone with dementia. It should work like the NHS, schools and other public services, where everyone gets quality care based on their need, not their wallet.”
Yvonne, from Buckinghamshire, is juggling caring for her mother, Joyce, who has dementia, with a demanding job while caring for her two young children. “After my mum was diagnosed I worried about how she was coping at home, and as things got worse, I moved my family from London to Buckinghamshire, so that we could all live together,” she said.
“My job is still in the City, so my commute is longer and more challenging than it used to be. Work do allow me to work from home quite a bit but I do need to be able to drop everything if a client needs me.
“I work after hours in the evening and at the weekend to catch up on the time I miss during the week when I’ve had to drop things to attend to Mum. I feel like I’ve had to put my career on hold as I have no capacity to take on additional responsibility and therefore go for promotions.
“Since mum moved in with us, she’s not entitled to free social care any more, which has a huge effect on finances as we’re now having to contribute towards the cost of her care. Her illness is only going to get worse and she’s going to need more and more care.
“If we don’t get support from the government, I don’t know how we’ll be able to afford it. I don’t know what the future holds – mum is very precious to us but the financial situation is really concerning.”
The charity is calling on the government to end the dementia care crisis by putting forward proposals in the Queen’s speech that result in long-term social care reform.
A government spokesperson said: “Carers make an invaluable contribution to society and this must not come at the expense of their careers. We are working with employers to promote carer-friendly, flexible jobs and ensure better access to advice and support, and will consult on dedicated employment rights for carers.
“We have given local authorities an additional £1.5bn for adult and children’s social care next year, on top of their existing grants, to continue to stabilise the sector. The government will set out plans to fix the social care system in due course.”
