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Carers in employment

1 February 2018

There’s encouragement today for the country’s carers who want to be part of the world of work. A government-funded and independently evaluated project, which ran from 2015-2017, looked at what works to support carers to remain or return to the workplace.

Known as the Carers in Employment (CiE) project, it took place in nine local authorities, who were encouraged to develop local solutions to support carers to remain in or return to work; work involving employers was found to be a vital to the project’s success.

The evaluation reports that, out of the nearly 3,000 carers who took part, CiE sites said that they had supported nearly 60% to stay in work. It’s hoped that the findings of the independent evaluation will make an important contribution to ensuring that carers’ needs are reflected in future employment-related carer policy and practice.

Caroline Dinenage, Minister of State for Care, says:

‘Carers tirelessly provide support for their family and friends but we know that balancing caring responsibilities with employment can be a real challenge. That’s why we fund work like the Carers in Employment project so that local solutions can be tested and learning shared – so the wishes of carers are prioritised when their support needs are considered.’

Carers in employment project