One mum who is spending all her retirement savings on care for her disabled son says the money she receives in benefits does not go far enough.
Michelle Lewarne, 65, told Sky News that she has been forced to dip into savings while the family live off her 72-year-old husband Tony's pension pot. Michelle says her and her husband's finances are a "disaster" and has called for more support for carers.
Michelle and Tony's second child Peter, now 41, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at 14 months and Michelle decided to give up her job as a nurse to care for him full-time. Michelle, from Overton in Hampshire said: "I was doing agency nursing when the children were babies and my husband was doing shift work so we would be like passing ships in the night. It did start taking a toll so I gave up nursing because his job was paying better and it was easier for me to care for Peter being a nurse. I understood all the language."
Currently, Michelle receives DWP Carer's Allowance which pays £76.75 a week, while her son Peter receives £407 in Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and £284 Mobility Allowance a month as Peter uses a wheelchair. But Michelle says the money just doesn't stretch far enough.
Michelle says Peter's care means they have to use more electricity and heating than an average household. Peter also has a gluten, wheat and dairy intolerance which means the can spend up to £200 a week - sometimes more - on food for him. She added: "We also have to have a separate fridge freezer so that nobody mistakes Peter's food for ours."
Tony received aggressive treatment for prostate cancer in 2015 which means he cannot help as much anymore. To help them with Peter's care, Michelle and Tony employ three carers through means-tested direct payments. This scheme sees local authorities fund some or all of your care services and will do this by either providing care services directly to you, directly paying you to arrange the care yourself, or a mixed package. Michelle and Tony receive £3,900 which they use entirely to pay the wages of Peter's carers.
Michelle is set to receive her pension in June this year however, this will impact how much Carer's Allowance she will get. She explained: "I can either have my pension as it is and lose my Carer's Allowance or have the allowance and they'll take some money from my pension. That's very unfair because I won't be retired - not in the proper sense of the word. At the moment we're relying on savings - we haven't got a lot left of that. You save up for your old age but now you have to use it all to pay for the care."
Michelle is frustrated at the entire system as Carer's Allowance is "far less" than the minimum wage. She also noted that whenever there was cutbacks, it always felt like it was in the social care sector. She added: "MPs should really come and live with a family like ours or work in a care home as part of their training and still try and do their job. See what it is really like for the real world.
"You really do struggle at times. If someone who is not a carer is fed up with their job they can just hand in their notice and go off and find another job, but in our case, we're like prisoners in our own home a lot of the time - we can't make those choices. The biggest thing anybody could do in parliament is just listen to the carers and what they need".
A Government spokesperson told Sky News: "Unpaid carers play a vital role in the lives of their family and friends, which is why from April we're boosting carer's allowance, meaning carers receive an extra £1,500 a year compared to 2010. Those in low income households may also be eligible for additional financial support such as universal credit."