Majority unprepared for costs of adult social care

New national polling has revealed that the overwhelming majority of people have not made any plans for how they will pay for adult social care in older age.

The Local Government Association (LGA), who commissioned the polling, found that only 15 per cent of adults say they are making plans for how they will pay for care they might need in the future while 50 per cent of English adults say that they have never thought about how they will pay for care when they get older.

Unlike the NHS, which is free at the point of need, social care is means tested and what you contribute to the cost of your care depends on the care setting and your level of assets and savings. Across the UK, 44 per cent of people in care homes pay the full cost of their care themselves, and 26 per cent pay the full cost of their homecare. Therefore, the LGA is calling on the government to lead a national campaign to heighten the profile and reputation of adult social care.

With adult social care services facing a £3.5 billion funding gap by 2025, the findings of the poll also reveal a concerning lack of awareness about these vital services, which may partly explain why people aren’t making provision for the cost of their future needs. Worryingly, 44 per cent of people think that social care is provided by the NHS and 28 per cent think that it is free at the point of access.

Ian Hudspeth, chairman of the LGA’s Community Wellbeing Board, said: “This polling raises real concerns over how prepared people are for their own care needs, or the care of their loved ones. Over recent years, councils have protected adult social care relative to other services. But the scale of the overall funding picture for local government as a whole means adult social care services still face a £3.5 billion funding gap by 2025, just to maintain existing standards of care. The likely consequences of this are more and more people being unable to get quality and reliable care and support, which enables them to live more fulfilling lives.

“If we are to truly tackle adult social care, we must aspire to social care having a similar ‘national treasure’ status as the NHS, with similar levels of awareness and understanding about what social care is and why it matters. With low public awareness of social care and people’s preparedness for how to pay for it, it is more important than ever that the government get on and publish their green paper, start a massive campaign to raise awareness of what social care is and don’t duck the big issues on funding. We need bold solutions and we need them now.”