Scotland can have a caring economy:
There are over three-quarters of a million unpaid carers in Scotland, as well as those employed in the social care sector, providing daily invaluable support across all generations. Care work is essential for our society and economy, but it is undervalued and under-paid. It is also primarily undertaken by women, and this drives economic and social gender inequality in Scotland. Around 70% of unpaid care work is provided by women in the UK and women account for over 80% of the workforce in caring occupations. Greens MSPs will fight for greater recognition of Scotland’s carers, and for increased financial and practical support.
- Investing in care workers. We want caring professions to be valued and considered an attractive career by people of all genders. Green MSPs will campaign for all care and support workers to be paid significantly above the Living Wage. In 2016, Green councillors in Edinburgh proposed a funded plan to pay a ‘Living Wage Plus’ of £9 an hour to social care staff. Better conditions for staff are a vital foundation for a better social care service. Green MSPs will demand improved working conditions for social care workers, such as paid travel time, sick leave, skills training and guaranteed hours.
- Carers’ rights. Green MSPs will fight for a better deal for unpaid carers. Women are twice as likely to give up paid work in order to care for disabled or older relatives and four times as likely to do so in order to provide ‘sandwich care’ for children and older people. This has an enormous impact on women’s health, wellbeing and security, as well as access to education, fulfilling employment and other opportunities. We will campaign for adequate resources to fully implement the Carers Act and to ensure that needs are met with quality support such as replacement care, short breaks, health checks and concessionary travel for carers on income support. We will also back the creation of an independent social care tribunal system to help carers and those they care for to realise their existing rights.
- Early years education. Early years education plays a vital role in tackling women’s underemployment and access to education. Green MSPs will help tackle educational inequality at the earliest stage by working with local authorities to deliver meaningful access to a GTCS-qualified teacher in every nursery and 20 hours of early-years education per week. Greens will focus on delivering early years education that is of high quality, child-centred and adequately flexible for parents who work or study part-time.
- Social care funding. Social care supports many thousands of people to lead a more independent life but funding is stretched to breaking point. Older people, disabled people and their carers – predominantly women – are at greater risk of poverty as a result. We recognise that providing universal social care will require significant public investment. However, the social and human cost of failing to invest in care services would be much larger. Green MSPs will advocate for a strategy that works towards universal social care free at the point of use.