No social safety net for PGB caregivers
An acute shortage of social care staff means that family members often quit their jobs to care for relatives with severe disabilities. This seems too good to be true – and there is a catch. Barend Barentsen, Professor of Labour law, discusses this on Dutch consumer programme ‘Radar’.
As long as care is provided for a sick relative, income is allocated from the personal care budget (PGB). However, these approximately 90,000 people who provide care lack social protection when they are no longer able to provide care due to their own illness or when their relative dies. Care provided to a partner or relative is not covered by social insurance, and the caregiver does not accrue pension either. 60% of these ‘informal caregivers’ are unaware of this.
The Sociale Verzekeringsbank (SVB) distinguishes between formal and informal caregivers. A formal caregiver has an employment contract, while an informal caregiver (for a partner, first-degree relative or second-degree relative) does not. They have a ‘care agreement’, reports Radar.
Professor Barentsen sees no difference between the two types of agreement, saying that ‘the main difference is in the name’. In terms of legal and financial implications, however, there is a huge difference. Informal caregivers lack almost all social protection. He adds: ‘And that’s only because you’re the partner or relative of the person in need of care.’ There would be no relationship of authority required for an employment contract in these situations. However, Professor Barentsen rejects this: ‘Surely this also happens in family businesses, where staff work for their relatives.’ A close relative may very well be ‘the boss’. The situation is different for children in need of care – especially if they’re unable to give informed consent – but some kind of construction should be possible.
Professor Barentsen also argues that the information provided by the SVB is inadequate and their website requires an update. Once you enter information on the website, you are not given many options. For family members, only one choice appears: the care agreement, which is not considered an employment contract and therefore does not act as a social safety net. It’s important that family members can continue to provide loving care while receiving the security to which they are entitled. Here lies an important task for politicians in The Hague.
More information
Watch the Radar broadcast (from 25.32 onwards)
Photo: David Knudsen through Unsplash