With more than seven million people juggling work with caring for a close friend or family member, it is vital that the government ensures support for carers in its workers’ rights agenda.
Indeed, there are now more people caring for an adult dependent than for children – a trend only set to grow as the average age of the population rises. Despite this, it’s taken until April this year for legislation to require businesses to offer working people five days’ unpaid leave to manage caring responsibilities.
At TSB, we supported this legislation as an overdue minimum standard. But this government has the opportunity to go further and make a real difference for carers, to drive growth, help more people stay in work, and keep pressure off our NHS. It’s time government called on businesses to offer paid leave for carers.
I know this works, because TSB already does it. We introduced paid carers’ leave back in 2020 – the first bank to do so – and alongside a wider package of support, we have seen the huge difference the policy makes to colleagues who are carers. The ability to take up to 70 hours’ additional paid leave per year, on a flexible basis, means that you can take the time you need to manage caring responsibilities, while also continuing in a rewarding and successful career.
This is hugely beneficial for the impacted individuals and families at the heart of this. Across the country, research has shown that as many as half of those with caring responsibilities feel they have no choice but to give up work or reduce their working hours, which means they lose out on vital income at a time when they are often also facing significant additional expenses. So often we hear from our carer’s network at TSB that caring for a loved one can be overwhelming, so work can also help give people an outlet, an all-important sense that they have a life of their own beyond caring responsibilities.
Recruitment and retention are significant challenges for any modern business, and it should come as no surprise that since we introduced carers’ leave, colleagues with caring responsibilities are more likely than average to stay with TSB for longer. The individual and collective skills and experience of our carers are a huge asset to TSB, so by supporting them to manage their caring responsibilities, we are sending a clear signal that we value them, and we want them to continue to make an effective contribution.
Paid leave also helps improve the diversity of our workforce. According to Carers UK, 59 per cent of carers are women, and 89 per cent of carers’ leave at TSB is taken by women. We also see that colleagues taking carers’ leave tend to be older, with more than 60 per cent accounted for by colleagues aged over 40, and one-third by those over 50. By catering to this need, we are helping to make TSB a more equal and inclusive workplace. It means we better reflect our customers and can benefit from the wider range of perspectives, experiences and ideas a more diverse workforce brings.
Getting this right across all organisations will benefit the economy as a whole. Age UK has estimated that GDP could be boosted by more than £5 billion by enabling more carers to stay in the workforce – and given the profile of those making use of carers’ leave at TSB, it would help address growing concerns about falling rates of economic activity among older workers. Equally, the cost to the Exchequer of carers leaving work and often claiming benefits is high. This government came to power with a pledge to explore the benefits of extending paid carers’ leave to all, while acknowledging that smaller businesses may need to be treated differently. Of course, one size may not fit all, but for larger employers, our experience serves to underline that paid carers’ leave should be adopted as standard. As we look to grow the economy and remain a compassionate society we must do more to care about the people who care.
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