Advantages of Informal sector

Question 1

Informal welfare strengthens family life and social responsibility

Answer 1

In the 1980’s Thatcher said families have a duty to look after their dependants. She said the welfare state had created a ‘nanny state’ and had stopped people from seeking support from relatives and friends. She argued that informal care made people more resourceful and prevented them from having the stigma of ‘going into a home’.

Moreover, the use of informal care stops people from becoming institutionalised in a home and gives them a degree of control and normality over their life. Also, informal care allows people to be near to those who care most for them.

Question 2

Informal welfare promotes independence and self-reliance

Answer 2

The New Right claim that informal care stops people from becoming too dependent on the state for welfare. This idea was the thinking behind the creation of the CSA, which attempted to make ‘absent’ fathers more responsible for their children, even when they are not living with their children. In this way informal care saves the government and taxpayers’ money.

Moreover, the Care Quality Commission said it costs a lot more to keep an elderly person in a state run care home than with care in their own home.