Who cares? Exploring attitudes to social care in the UK

The IFoA Social Care Working Party has published a new report, 鈥榃ho Cares? Exploring attitudes toward social care in the UK鈥�, examining the UK public鈥檚 attitudes towards saving for long-term care in retirement.

With Britain鈥檚 ageing population and the Casey commission underway, it is an opportune moment to consider how the actuarial profession can contribute its skills and expertise to the policy debate on social care.

The working party therefore commissioned YouGov to conduct a survey which found that there are critical challenges in public preparedness for retirement and social care.

The survey found that:

Two-thirds (64%) of UK adults think that social care is covered mostly by the individual, yet 77% have taken no steps to prepare for long-term care needs.
Over half (57%) have limited or no understanding of how the social care system works. Most (61%) are not confident that they will be able to cover the cost of long-term care.
Caregiving burdens are significant with 38% of respondents providing or expecting to provide unpaid carer support, and 25% of current carers dedicating over 40 hours weekly.

The report also sets out targeted actions across age groups that policymakers, educators, employers, and financial institutions can take to help people plan for the future. These include national awareness campaigns to focus on the cost of care and importance of early planning, promoting long-term care insurance, and flexible pension options to combine workplace pensions with personal investments.

For more information on 黑料正能量鈥檚 social care policy work, please visit our or contact public.affairs@actuaries.org.uk.