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You should pay for your own old age care if you can afford it

Conservative voters say, you should pay for your own care in old age if you can afford it.

A Censuswide survey, commissioned by Ridouts Solicitors, a leading specialist law firm in the health and social care sector, shows there is widespread support for individuals to save for the cost of their care in later life. 57% of Conservative supporters surveyed thought it would be fair to ask those with the means to do so, to make provisions to pay for their care in old age. Only 13% disagreed.

Ridouts has today published a report on the future of social care, ‘Achieving a Health and Social Care System Fit For Purpose’, which sets out their expert vision of how to solve the current challenges facing the social care sector. The law firm is calling for greater personal responsibility when it comes to funding social care. The survey’s findings show that the majority of Conservative voters would support such a policy, paving the way for the Government to reform the social care payment system in this way.

In 2017, the Government’s general election manifesto suggested reforms that would have meant increasing numbers of people using more of their own assets to pay for their care in later life.

This comes ahead of the publication of the Government’s highly-anticipated Green Paper on the future of social care provision.

Founder and MD of Ridouts, Paul Ridout, says:

“The results of this survey support the Government putting a new focus on fairness in the funding of social care. People who can afford to pay for their care should pay for it, backed with a support system for those who can’t. We need to see greater self-responsibility when it comes to funding social care.

“Our Green Paper, which is the result of more than 75 years’ combined experience in the health and social care sector, also recommends filling empty places in care homes, improving training, promoting a career in care as a valued profession, and distinguishing between the roles of care commissioner and care regulator. We believe our recommendations will improve the quality of care for everyone who needs it in our society.”

The survey also revealed that more than half of Conservative supporters (55%) also agreed politicians should not allow people to avoid paying for their relatives’ care, or their own care, if they can afford to pay for it, rather than making the taxpayer pick up the bill.

The idea of using public money to train care staff is supported in the polling by 54% of all respondents, with Conservative supporters again most likely to agree (65%). This chimes with a recommendation from Ridouts’ policy report that care providers who offer high-quality staff training programmes should receive match-funding from Government.