Timing

Tuesday 29th September: 09:00 - 10:00

Chair

Ruth Hannan - Director, Care Full

Speakers

Nadia Whittome, MP, Nottingham East
Hannah Webster - Director, Care Full
India Burgess - Associate Director, Autonomy Institute
Sarah Ronan - Executive Director, Early Years and Childcare Coalition

Topic

From fixes to foundations; building a caring economy

Why is it that we are still trying to 'fix' social care? And what will it really take to create a society that truly cares?

Care Full and Autonomy will lead a panel discussion exploring care and our economy; discussing a radical new vision and some of the policy and practice stepping stones we can use to reach it.

The challenges experienced by people with a relationship to care are woven throughout the fabric of our society and our economy, yet the solutions too often are weighted towards discrete interventions in social care or formal childcare. This leaves little acknowledgement of the complexity of people's lives, and the impact our economic model has on the paid and unpaid care labour we are able to give.

The session will explore how we move from care as a service to be fixed to a foundation upon which our economy is designed. Only when we make this shift will we truly enable care for ourselves, each other and the planet.

With a new start for the Labour party and the Labour government, now is the perfect opportunity to take a new approach, building on the learnings from the Casey Commission and beyond.

About Care Full | The Autonomy Institute

Care Full was founded by Ruth and Hannah in 2023 as a space to expand ideas about the role of care in a new economy. As carers themselves, they see everyday how the systems that surround us are designed to undervalue care and push it to the margins. The fundamental design of our economic model ensures this.

Through Care Full we bring together research, advocacy and participation, to conceptualise and demonstrate what a new, care-centred future might look like.

The Autonomy Institute creates data-driven tools and policy to strengthen democracy and build the future economy.

Through our research, we advocate for a more holistic approach to care, including working time policies, public services and care infrastructure that would enable the creation of a care-centred economy.

Speaker bios

Ruth Hannan - Director, Care Full

Ruth has worked in the community and at national policy level for a number of charities whose work focused on carers. She has led on policy in think tanks (the RSA) and charities (Carers Trust, People’s Powerhouse). She comes to Care Full after caring for her mum and dad for a number of years with her sister.

Nadia Whittome, MP, Nottingham East

Nadia Whittome has been the Labour MP for Nottingham East since 2019. Before entering Parliament, she worked as a care worker, returning to the role part time during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic. She is a supporter of a caring economy and has long advocated for a National Care Service that is free at the point of use, fully public, and co-produced by care recipients, unpaid carers and workers.

Hannah Webster - Director, Care Full

Hannah’s background is in research, having led research teams in think tanks (the RSA) and charities (Turn2us, Centrepoint). She comes to Care Full after a number of years caring for her partner

India Burgess - Associate Director, Autonomy Institute

India Burgess is an Associate Director at the Autonomy Institute, where she leads the advocacy and funding teams and manages projects on the future of work, welfare and climate. She is also the General Secretary and Coordinator of the European Work-Time Network, a pan-European network on working time reduction, and an experienced climate justice organiser.

Sarah Ronan - Executive Director, Early Years and Childcare Coalition

Sarah Ronan is Executive Director of the Early Education and Childcare Coalition, a partnership working to reform childcare. Its work focuses on widening access to high-quality provision and improving pay and conditions for the early years workforce. Sarah developed the Coalition while working at the Women’s Budget Group and previously led Pregnant Then Screwed’s award-winning pandemic response including campaigns on childcare and the safety of pregnant workers. She sits on the boards of the Baby Bank Alliance and Middleton Co-operating.