Timing

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

Chair

Ruth Hannan - Co-founder, Care Full

Speakers

Nadia Whittome, MP
Hannah Webster - Co-founder, Care Full
India Burgess - Head of Advocacy, the 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.