If The Government Is Serious About 'Building Back Better', Rishi Sunak Must Invest In Care
“Build back better,” said Prime Minister Boris Johnson in last Tuesday’s speech, as he made bold claims of a New Deal to “build, build, build” to stimulate the economy and “level up”.
But what did the speech really offer, beyond the alliterative slogans?
Economists and commentators across the board agree the much-vaunted stimulus package is paltry. There’s not much “new money” here: the £5 billion on infrastructure and £12 billion on “affordable homes” had already been budgeted in March and were simply re-announced. At the same time, the speech failed to acknowledge structural barriers that prevent groups disadvantaged by gender, ethnicity, class, disabilities and age from achieving substantive equality.
Crucially, Johnson barely mentioned the simple word which could “turbocharge” (to coin his phrase) his levelling up agenda – and that word is “care”. Investing in care provision is absolutely crucial if the government is truly determined to reduce inequality in our society.
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And yet, Johnson’s speech postponed yet again a plan for social care. Build, build, build was the clarion call – with investment focused on physical infrastructure and construction. This is in spite of the fact that research for the Women’s Budget Group Commission on a Gender-Equal Economy shows investing net 2.7% GDP in the care sector would generate 2.7 times the number of jobs as the same investment in construction. That economic boost takes into account not only direct employment in the sector, but also indirect employment in the supply chain, as well as induced employment across consumer goods sectors as newly employed care workers spend their wages.
The chancellor could make a start in...
