Are we a Scotland that cares?
We all need to be cared for at some point in our lives – as children, as we grow older, or when we need additional support.
Our individual and collective wellbeing depends on care.
In fact, care is crucial to every part of our society and economy.
Yet, many people who experience care or provide it feel under-supported, under-valued and under-rewarded. This must change.
A Scotland that Cares is campaigning for a Scotland that truly cares.
Paying the price
Too many carers face deep personal and financial costs, including poverty.
While this has long been true, it was sharply demonstrated during the Covid-19 pandemic and has been made worse by the cost-of-living crisis – with rising energy, food and fuel bills.
These pressures affect all kinds of carers:
- unpaid carers supporting people with additional support needs
- parents looking after children
- and paid workers in adult social care and childcare.
Women shoulder the majority of all types of care, leaving many exhausted, underpaid, and financially stretched.
A range of positive actions have been taken, or are planned, in Scotland, but progress remains too slow and too shallow.
Those who rely on care – and those who provide it – are paying the price.
Our work
We believe Scotland must fully value and invest in care and all those who provide it – paid or unpaid. That means making care a national priority and backing it with clear policies, adequate funding, and action that actually reaches the people who need it.
A National Outcome on Care
The Scottish Government has 11 National Outcomes, which it says describe the kind of Scotland it aims to create. Yet care is almost invisible. That can’t be right.
We want the Scottish Government to create a dedicated National Outcome on Care and then ensure it drives the new action that’s needed to fully value and invest in care right across Scotland.
Following a review, and thanks to our campaign, the Scottish Government proposed a new National Outcome on Care, arguing there was a “strong evidence base of the need for change”.
Disappointingly, Scottish Ministers then pressed pause.
Instead, another review has been launched – this time of the wider system the National Outcomes sit within, called the National Performance Framework.
As this progresses, we’re sending Ministers and officials leading the review a clear message:
Scotland must put care where it belongs – at the heart of national priorities.
Want to know more?
Read our briefing: Invaluable, But Invisible: Why Scotland needs a new National Outcome on Care.
For further background information, read our campaign briefing and our Scottish Parliament Briefing, both from 2022.
Finally, you can read the blueprint for our proposed National Outcome on Care, which was created in collaboration with academics at the University of the West of Scotland as part of the UWS-Oxfam Partnership.
Access our Easy Read documents
Find out more about the campaign in our Easy Read documents as a Word document or PDF.
A Care Policy Scorecard for Scotland
While we continue to push for care to be at the very heart of the Scottish Government’s vision for Scotland, we also know that a national goal alone won’t fix Scotland’s care crisis.
That’s why we’ve worked with the Scottish Women’s Budget Group to dig deeper into care policy in Scotland. They’ve assessed the reality behind existing promises, looking not just at what’s written in policy, but what’s happening in practice.
The result is Scotland’s first-ever Care Policy Scorecard.
Unsurprisingly, it reveals a mixed picture: strong intentions in some areas, but patchy progress, under-funded services, and far too many carers and families left struggling. By setting out clearly where Scotland is falling short and where action could make a real difference, the Scorecard offers a powerful foundation for the change we urgently need.
Find out more about the Scorecard and explore the full findings.
A Scotland that Cares is led by
A unique collaboration of organisations created and lead this campaign. This Steering Group continues to be supported by academics at the University of the West of Scotland.
The campaign is supported by
If you would like to know more about the campaign, or you represent an organisation who would like to join, you can also contact us at scotland@oxfam.org.uk.