Care vouchers could help workers with care responsibilities pay for extra care and support services for their older or disabled relatives. A similar scheme already exists to help workers with the cost of childcare. The care vouchers proposal uses the existing childcare scheme as a model – but would enables carers and the older or disabled people they care for to decide together what extra care and support services to purchase.

How would the scheme work?

Employers could provide employees with a benefit, in the form of a ‘care voucher’. If the government agreed, the benefit would be exempt from both National Insurance and income tax.

These services could include:

• Informal support and low level preventative services such as cleaning and home maintenance, befriending schemes and chiropody.

• Domiciliary care services such as help with getting up, going to bed, dressing, toileting, personal hygiene, some household tasks, shopping, cooking and supervision of medication.

• Telecare and preventative technologies such as gas detectors, flood detectors, motion sensors and
bogus caller alarms.

• Residential care, either full time or as respite.
The care vouchers proposal can be downloaded here