While the needs of all unpaid carers in Scotland are often overlooked, people from Black and Minority Ethnic communities are being especially failed. Margaret Chiwanza introduces new research that reveals how they are being pushed into poverty and struggling in silence. Addressing that, she says, demands measures co-created with communities, from targeted support payments to respite breaks to health checks.
‘At my lowest point, I thought everyone might be better off without me.’
Those words from a 45-year-old Indo-Caribbean woman caring for a loved one cut to the core. She’s one of thousands of unpaid carers from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities across Scotland providing vital care, often with little rest, recognition or support. Her experience, sadly, is far from unique.
This week, the Minority Ethnic Carers of People Project (MECOPP) is publishing Where Are We Now? the first major research in 30 years into the lives of unpaid carers from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities in Scotland. The report comes just ahead of Carers Week, whose theme this year, Caring about Equality, couldn’t be more timely. Because right now, equality is exactly what’s missing.
Unpaid carers are the invisible network holding Scotland’s communities and economy together. But while all unpaid carers deserve greater reward and recognition, this new research shows that BME carers are being especially failed: pushed into poverty; struggling in silence; and facing major barriers to access to support that works for them.
The most recent data shows the number of BME unpaid carers has more than doubled in a decade, with over 35,000 people now looking after someone. Yet nearly seven in ten carers we spoke to said their caring role was pushing them into financial hardship. Some are skipping meals or switching off the heating just to get by. Around half live on less than £20,000 a year.
Pain, exhaustion and worsening mental health
The toll on carers’ own health is just as serious. Half live with pain or exhaustion. Four in ten face worsening mental health. Three-quarters say they don’t have a single moment to care for themselves. As one Pakistani carer told us: “Caring is 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. The only respite I get is when my son goes to bed. Then I start the laundry.”
In 2006, the Scottish government said it recognised the challenges facing BME unpaid carers. Yet here we are, nearly two decades later, and too little has changed. Carers are still struggling to access support that speaks their language, meets their cultural needs, or even recognises them in the first place.
Our new research, carried out by Heriot-Watt University and supported by Oxfam Scotland, sets out not just what’s going wrong, but what needs to be done.
So what should policy makers do?
We need respite breaks that actually work for BME carers; a Carer Support Payment that reaches and supports those who need it most; annual health checks and proper mental health support; and services designed with, not just for, the communities they are meant to serve.
These changes aren’t optional extras: they’re the bare minimum. BME carers are simply asking to be seen, heard and supported. They’re asking for what every unpaid carer deserves: fairness.
BME unpaid carers are doing their bit, more than their bit. It’s time politicians did theirs. Caring shouldn’t come at the cost of your health, your income or your identity. The Scottish government has long known the problems. It’s time to fix them.
Author
Read the full report: Where Are We Now?
This article was originally published by The Herald. It is the first in a series of Oxfam blogs for Carers Week in the UK, which runs from June 9 to 15.