Care is the cornerstone of our society. Every single one of us relies on care at some point in our lives, and without it many of us would be condemned to isolation or ill health. But too often it is treated as an economic afterthought. Caring jobs - overwhelmingly held by women, and in particular women of colour - are routinely underpaid and undervalued. Parenting and unpaid care is taken for granted, and those of us who rely on care are treated as practically invisible. 

Across the UK millions are living with unmet care needs, and women are being forced to choose between earning enough to cover the basics and providing care to loved ones. Unpaid care contributes billions to our economy every year, but successive Governments have been happy to allow the people who deliver it to do so at enormous personal cost - lower incomes, debt, poverty and extreme burnout face many of those who give their time to support their loved ones. 

Caring jobs are some of the lowest carbon jobs in our economy. They cannot be automated like many other industries, and they would represent a major boost to the economy into deprived areas of the country. Without the commitment and resilience of care workers tens of thousands more people would have died during the pandemic. However, they have been thanked with tighter visa requirements, and many still earn less than a living wage. 

Investing in childcare practically pays for itself over time with increased tax revenues, lowered social security payments and wider social benefits. Whilst investing in social care can save the NHS billions by freeing up beds and reducing reliance on emergency care. For every £1 that is invested in social care, we see £1.75 in wider economic benefits but it is too often overlooked in favour of investing in physical infrastructure.

Our goal is to build a society that truly values all forms of care, both paid and unpaid and that enables everyone to thrive. 

• Free universal childcare from the end of paid parental leave at nine months - covering the full working week, 48 weeks a year. 

• A national social care service, which is free at the point of use, pays a real living wage and is co-produced with service users. 

• Restoring family visas for health and social care workers

• Increase carers allowance, increasing the earnings cap and introduce a new rate for those caring for between 20 and 35 hrs a week

Move to wellbeing economic measures

Wealth means nothing if we can’t afford to heat our homes. It means nothing if we don’t have the resources to care for our loved ones, live in an unjust, unequal society, or if we are too unwell or unhappy to participate in the economy. WE would move beyond GDP and join others in the international community who are instead measuring how the economy affects us all. 

Cross departmental task force to improve public health and wellbeing

The last decade has done untold damage to our communities. Services are at breaking point, ill health is spiralling and trust in Government is at an all time low. WE would connect departments from across Government and challenge them to meet ambitious targets for improving public health and wellbeing. 

Social investment bonds

When the Bank of England buys bonds, it should be investing in us, and making our lives better. Not in private profits. The more investment we can inject into our country, the more we will enable our communities to thrive and adapt for a more sustainable future.

Expand central funding for services, with radically devolved delivery.

Often the areas with the highest care needs are the ones that are least able to raise council tax revenue to fund services. We would provide more central funding to local authorities for care, helping to equalise economic development and ensure that the whole of the UK can thrive. 

Over the last decade Government spending and taxation has been repeatedly reformed to the benefit of the wealthiest in society. 

Since 2010 the poorest women have lost on average £3,348 per year, a 26% reduction of their income. Black women have lost £2,498 per year, lone parents have lost around £7,000 per year and Disabled women have lost £2,553 per year on average. 

Just a small increase in taxation for the very wealthiest in our society would rebalance our economy, and enable a truly transformational change in how we deliver services. Like the policies outlined above.  

• Apply a 1-2% wealth tax on assets over £10 million, raising up to £22 billion a year

• Equalise capital gains with income tax rates, raising up to £15.2 billion a year.

• Apply national insurance to investment income, raising up to £8.6 billion a year.

• End the inheritance tax loopholes that benefit the already wealthy, raising up to £1.4 billion a year.

• Reform the rules on non-dom status, raising up to £3.2 billion a year.

• Introduce a 4% tax on share buybacks, raising approximately £2 billion a year.

Women are cracking under the pressure of work and unpaid care. Almost half of all working age women in the UK are providing 45 hours of unpaid childcare per week.The workplace was never designed for us, and we are increasingly expected to give our all to our jobs, whilst plugging the gaps in a failing care system. It’s unsustainable, and driving ill health and inequality. 

The pandemic showed us that flexible ways of working are possible. You just need the political will to deliver them. Forty percent of women who aren’t working reported that accessing flexible work would mean they could take on more paid work. This access could unlock £28.4 billion more per annum for women in earnings. A redesigned workplace would enable people to balance work with caring responsibilities, reduce unnecessary journeys, make the workplace more accessible to Disabled people and deliver a more equal society.

• Move to a 35 hour working week, with a corresponding increase to national minimum wage

• Ensure all contracts are flexible by default, with the onus being on employers to justify fixed working hours

• Require employers to justify working locations, protecting the right to home working for those who choose it. 

• Introduce paid carers leave

• Guaranteed nine months shared parental leave at 90% of pay, with a minimum of three months leave for each parent (or for a nominated person for single parents). 

A better workplace isn’t just about flexibility. It is about restoring and expanding workplace protections to ensure that everyone has a right to a stable, decent income. 

• Equal employment rights for all workers from day one. Including those on zero hour contracts. 

• Repeal anti-union legislation, and protect the right to strike. 

Communities are at the heart of a caring, sustainable society. Right now, there isn't a single place in the UK where a woman can afford to live alone on an average income. Social housing stock has been continually depleted, private rents have been allowed to skyrocket and there has been little done to improve the efficiency of existing homes and protect people from rising energy bills. Inaccessible, expensive and out dated public transport has increased traffic on our roads, reduced air quality and leaves many people isolated.

Greener, fairer more accessible communities are possible. By radically expanding investment in public transport, greener homes and in active travel initiatives we can reduce emissions whilst enabling everyone to thrive. 

• Invest in a well-connected, integrated and affordable national public transport system, with an emphasis on improving bus services and walking and cycling routes

• Design services to cater to all users, including flexible and hopper fairs. 

• A nationwide programme to retrofit sustainable housing with insulation, solar panels or heat pumps

• Reform regulations, and tighten private rental standards and expand social housing stock 

• Tighten accessibility and sustainability standards for new build homes. 

22% of people in the UK are currently experiencing poverty. The poverty gap is deepening and destitution rates, particularly for children, have reached obscene highs. 

Poverty can have life-long consequences for individuals and is both a cause and a symptom of our broken economy. Those facing poverty are more at risk of experiencing poorer physical and mental health, while facing exacerbated barriers to accessing services and compounding pressure on the NHS. Children in poverty are additionally impacted in education, performing lower on average throughout school and affecting later career opportunities. 

The risk of falling below the poverty line is shockingly uneven across groups. Single parent families (90% headed by women), families whose working hours are affected by childcare, many groups minoritised by ethnicity, disabled people, unpaid carers and renters are all facing disproportionately high levels of poverty. 

We cannot continue to paper over these cracks with volunteer-run food banks while cutting taxes for the wealthy and maintaining financially debilitating policies like the two-child benefit cap. By implementing measures that would lift people out of poverty, we can produce a sustainable economy that stops rewarding the rich for being rich, and punishing everyone else. 

• End the two-child limit, reform child benefit and tax credit cap to make it work for and commit to increasing child benefit over time

• Increases for all benefits in line with inflation to ensure they rise with costs

• Restore Disability benefit to 2010 levels and reform the assessment process. 

• Fully ban DSS refusals, for private landlords and insurance companies

• Tie local housing allowance to local rents

• End no recourse to public funds

• End sanctions, increase the UC earnings threshold inline with inflation, end the benefit cap and increase universal credit to £120 per week - the minimum needed to cover essentials in the UK