A Double-Edged Tool: the Czech Care Allowance from the Perspective of Family Caregivers‘ Situation

Olga Hubíková

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A Double-Edged Tool: the Czech Care Allowance from the Perspective of Family Caregivers‘ Situation

Olga Hubíková

Medailon autora:

Olga Hubíková is a research worker at the Research Institute for Labour and Social Affairs, Department of General Issues of Social Policy, where she focuses mainly on qualitative research concerning the areas of social services policy, quality in social services, social work in welfare benefits agendas, etc.

Abstrakt:

This text endeavours to capture the socio-political climate and those conditions under which family caregivers in the Czech Republic must work and which are influenced by the Czech Care Allowance (CA) system. The family caregivers were almost invisible until the introduction of the CA into the Czech social care system. Four interconnected issues concerning the situation of the family caregivers in the Czech Republic are discussed that are related to the CA. These issues involve 1/ a procedure of CA entitlement assessment; 2/ social rights and low social security available for the family caregivers; 3/ relationship of formal social services to the family caregivers, 4/ a possible impact of the Care benefit agenda professionals’ stereotypes or preconceptions on the assessment of eligibility for Care benefit. The text is concluded by a short discussion of the situation of the Czech family caregivers from the vantage point of foreign experience and policy towards family care/caregivers, including the EU strategy.