According to Carers UK, unpaid ‘family’ carers save the government £119bn each year. With their estimate of 6 millions carers, we could see each carers saves £19833 per year or around £380 per week. The way carers save money is not explained.
My problem with this figures is that it reinforces the notion the person being ‘cared for’ is a passive reject of society. The figure does not take into the contributions disabled people make to their families, nor the families natural interdependency.
The figure is £119bn saving for carers, who society pities for warehousing our rejects, is used to increase the rights of carers at the cost of people requiring support, who often have little or no control over how they are cared for. The economic argument has the potential to further dehumanised disabled and other people, allowing the eugenics lobby to squeeze in and so the benefits of allowing carers to have the right to put their loved ones out of their miseries.
The real costs can not be measured because we are talking about individuals, pure and simple.
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