How many readers noticed that last week was Carers Week? Not many, I imagine.

Written by Vincent Cable MP and published in Online Exclusive on Fri 18th Jun 2004

The Carers Centre in Twickenham organised an event for local carers, courtesy of the RFU. But there are thousands of others who, year in and year out, care for elderly parents, spouses or disabled and sick children, and go unnoticed.

I encounter heart-rending case of families who do not want, or cannot afford, to place their loved ones in institutions, and who make great sacrifices to manage at home. There are teenagers looking after toddlers because their mother is sick or disabled and there is no father. There are elderly couples coping with middle-aged children who are disabled or have learning difficulties. Some, like a gentleman I met at the Twickenham event, have spent much of their lives caring for sick parents, then children, and then a seriously ill partner. The physical and emotional demands caring for someone with Huntingdon's or Motor Neurone Disease or other degenerative illnesses as are extreme.

Many carers get no holidays; work a seven-day week; and struggle to cope financially. Carers benefits are limited and penalise part-time work. Social services support is patchy. Respite is generally inadequate and under-funded. Yet carers save the taxpayer billions. It can cost £100,000 a year to look after someone with complex needs in an institution.

Carers are not a militant group who can demand our attention. They cannot strike. They don't block motorways or throw powder bombs at the Prime Minister. Society should instead show greater understanding and appreciation. In particular politicians, both local and national, should move carers further up their agenda.