{"id":121538,"date":"2026-06-10T07:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T06:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/?p=121538"},"modified":"2026-06-09T23:38:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T22:38:11","slug":"uk-proposal-promises-paid-leave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/uk-proposal-promises-paid-leave\/","title":{"rendered":"Revolutionary UK Proposal Promises Paid Leave for Millions of Struggling Carers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Millions of<strong> unpaid carers<\/strong> and <strong>parents of seriously ill children<\/strong> in the UK could soon benefit from new <strong>workplace rights<\/strong>, including paid leave and a guaranteed right to return to work, as the government launches a consultation to improve support for those balancing jobs and care responsibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Proposed Paid Leave and Workplace Flexibility<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the key proposals under consultation is known as <strong>Hugh\u2019s Law<\/strong>, named after <strong>Hugh Menai-Davis<\/strong>, who died at six from cancer. The charity It\u2019s Never You has campaigned for paid leave and financial support for parents caring for seriously ill children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The measures being explored include introducing paid carer\u2019s leave for the first time, a right to return to work after intensive caregiving similar to maternity leave protections, and new guidance to help employers better support employees with caring responsibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Minister for Employment Rights, <strong>Kate Dearden<\/strong>, explained: \u201c<em>Whether you\u2019re caring for an elderly parent, a partner with a long-term illness, or a child fighting a serious disease, you shouldn\u2019t have to choose between your job and those you love&#8230; These proposed reforms are about making sure the world of work reflects the reality of people\u2019s live<\/em>s,\u201d reports <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/news\/unpaid-carers-and-parents-of-seriously-ill-children-could-get-new-rights-under-government-proposals\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">GOV.UK<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Last week Kate Dearden, Minister for Employment Rights, spoke at our annual State of Caring Conference about the importance of unpaid carers and what can be done to better support them.<br><br>This event was kindly sponsored by Centre for Care.<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/StateOfCaringConference?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#StateOfCaringConference<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/KVYJ33hwVx\">pic.twitter.com\/KVYJ33hwVx<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Carers UK (@CarersUK) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/CarersUK\/status\/2057431348072058957?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 21, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Support from Advocacy Groups and Employers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Carers UK welcomed the consultation. Chief Executive <strong>Helen Walker<\/strong> said: \u201c<em>We strongly encourage carers and employers to respond to this consultation and look forward to working with the Government to help deliver meaningful change for carers.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Nicola Bannister<\/strong>, CEO of <strong>TSB<\/strong>, highlighted the benefits of paid carers\u2019 leave in practice. At TSB, employees can access <strong>70 hours<\/strong> of <a href=\"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/uk-government-urged-to-introduce-paid-leave\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">paid leave<\/a> annually, enabling them to manage work alongside their caregiving duties. She called on other businesses to adopt similar measures to support their staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Economic and Social Impacts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Improved support for carers could allow thousands to return to work, reducing absenteeism and staff turnover. Financially, it helps households dependent on informal care to remain secure while maintaining essential services for those who rely on them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Minister of State for Care Stephen Kinnock<\/strong> emphasized the importance of unpaid carers: \u201c<em>They often put the needs of others before their own and we owe them a debt of gratitude for all they do&#8230; That is why we must make sure unpaid carers are not left behind or forgotten and our reforms will help provide the support careers need, while making sure they are not compromising their work or careers<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone wp-image-121539 size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1174\" height=\"702\" src=\"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/06\/Capture-decran-2026-06-09-121521.jpg\" alt=\"paid leave\" class=\"wp-image-121539\" srcset=\"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/06\/Capture-decran-2026-06-09-121521.jpg 1174w, https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/06\/Capture-decran-2026-06-09-121521-380x227.jpg 380w, https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/06\/Capture-decran-2026-06-09-121521-520x311.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1174px) 100vw, 1174px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Minister of State for Care Stephen Kinnock. \u00a9 Getty images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The government encourages carers, parents, and employers to respond to the consultation, which closes on <strong>1 September 2026<\/strong>. Feedback will be used to shape a framework that makes it easier for carers and parents of seriously ill children to remain in employment while continuing to provide critical care.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>UK carers and parents of seriously ill children could soon gain stronger employment protections, including paid leave, flexible schedules, and job security\u2014potentially transforming work-life balance and saving the economy billions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":121541,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-121538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121538"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121538\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":121556,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121538\/revisions\/121556"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}