[Osem]

Carers don't only give up their time to those they care for full time, they often give up their chances of a decent job or any sort of career and therefore sacrifice their own security and ability to support themselves when they either lose their role for whatever reason.

A good friend of ours spent quite a few years looking after his profoundly disabled son 24/7 whilst living in a grotty HA flat on an appalling estate. Last year, having come to the end of his tether, he finally made the difficult decision to put his own life/sanity first, get a job and put his son into full time care. Whatever the state spent supporting him and his son over the years pales into insignificance compared to what it's now going to cost for the foreseeable future. There are no cheap or simple solutions to this problem.