Home care franchise Bluebird Care has released a YouGov poll looking into the nation’s views on paying for their care needs when they are older and most importantly who is going to pick up the bill.

The research showed that 53 per cent of people over 45 still retain the belief that the state is going to pay for their care costs when they are older, this compares in sharp contract to 13 per cent of under 25’s. It seems that the over 45’s still believe that being a lifetime tax payer entitles you to be looked after by the state when you are old, whereas the younger generation have switched on to the fact that like many other things they themselves will be footing the bill.

The care industry watchdog The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has revealed that the numbers of older people being denied council funded care has risen by over 80,000 in the last 12 months, which, according to Bluebird Care, only goes to show that there is a financial time bomb for funding care.

Bluebird Care’s research also revealed that while 71 per cent of over 45’s said they are indeed worried about coping financially when they retire, only a mere 30 per cent of the same age group have made any kind of financial provision to look after themselves when they are older.

The picture is even more bleak when you look at the under 34’s, with 77 per cent of them saying that they have made no plan and don’t intend to make any financial provision to look after themselves when they are old.

?Paul Tarsey, Managing Director of Bluebird Care, said: “It is worrying to see that the UK’s over 45’s are massively out of touch with the reality of how care in the UK is funded. Bluebird Care today calls on the Government to make this issue clear as it really is a ticking time bomb.

“When the NHS started in 1948 the principle was ‘from cradle to grave’ but the pressures on the public purse over the last few years have seen this ideal substantially revised. While the NHS has seen huge changes Local Authorities now have budgetary constraints which mean that much of the population will now have to fund their own social care as they get older.”

Bluebird Care strives to make people realise its belief that professional care at home is a realistic and cost effective alternative to going into a care home. Bluebird Care as a network across the UK and Ireland is currently providing over 4,000 visits per day, totalling 1.5 million visits per year by over 1,500 care worker staff. This equates to over £24 million worth of care per year.

Published: 12 April 2011

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