Caring During Crisis: the Experiences of Ethnic Minority Communities in Scotland During Covid-19

Abstract

The project
This report explores the experiences of ethnic minority carers in Scotland. It is the first such study since Gina Netto’s 1996 report. It presents results from a research project undertaken between November 2021 and January 2022 which aimed to:
• Understand how unpaid care is arranged and experienced differently amongst ethnic minority carers along intersectional lines of immigration status and gender;
• Explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on how members of ethnic minority groups have arranged their caring responsibilities;
• Scrutinise the different assets that ethnic minority carers have drawn from to cope with and manage pandemic-related risks in order to maintain their caring arrangements.

The primary data analysed in this report is drawn from qualitative semi-structured interviews with ten carers from ethnic minority backgrounds and living in Scotland. Some of them were asylum seekers or refugees. Due to the small number of interviews, the data are not generalisable. Nevertheless, the interviews have provided a deep insight into the experiences of some ethnic minority carers during the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, the inclusion of asylum seekers and refugees has generated valuable insights into a group which is not often considered within the academic literature on unpaid care.

The findings
The analysis of the interview transcripts brought up four key themes which were of relevance to the research participants.

Theme 1: Reluctance to use the social security system and support services Even when experiencing financial hardship, unpaid carers are often reluctant to turn to the welfare state and use the social security support they are entitled to. The same seems true regarding support services that could help carers in their role. Interview data suggests that this is due to – with regards to ethnic minority carers – the stigma associated with benefits, specific cultural expectations around ‘selfsufficiency’, and the notion that ‘the family’ should provide the necessary support rather than the state.

Theme 2: Limited social connections Research participants relied heavily on existing social connections, in particular to family members, for support in their caring roles. Such support was not, however, available to all interviewees because of, for example, the geographical distance to their families. This problem was particularly severe for asylum seekers and refugees.

Theme 3: Barriers to paid employment Due to the gendered distribution of care work, but also because of language barriers and restrictions around the right to work for those interviewees who were subject to immigration controls, engaging with paid work for some of our participants was difficult or impossible. This exacerbated their financial difficulties and also contributed to social isolation.

Theme 4: COVID-19 deepened existing inequalities COVID-19 and its lockdowns and other restrictions deepened existing inequalities in Scotland in relation to gender, ethnicity, and immigration status. Interviewees spoke of experiences of poverty and poor physical and mental health, often compounded by limited access to social security and support services, limited access to paid work, and limited social connections. These problems became deeper because of the pandemic.

Key learning points for policy and practice
Protecting ethnic minority unpaid carers from poverty and valuing their contribution must be at the heart of a just, caring and green recovery from the crises since 2020. We provide a number of key learning points which should be taken into account by policy makers and others when discussing the policy area of unpaid care. Such discussion should also consider the Scottish Government’s National Performance Framework and how it, in a future revised version, could explicitly acknowledge care, in its unpaid and paid forms, through the addition of a dedicated new National Outcome on care (see Maclean et al 2021).

1. The need to tackle poverty amongst ethnic minority carers
• Increase Universal Credit provision to reflect the growing cost of living;
• Improve take-up of social security entitlements;
• Remove eligibility restrictions to the new Scottish Carer’s Assistance for asylum seekers and those in fulltime education;
• Support carers’ labour market access.

2. The need to support the mental health of ethnic minority carers
• Enhance digital mental health support;
• Provide culturally sensitive mental health support that safeguards women against violence;
• Increase investment in carer organisations’ mental health programmes.

3. The need to support social networks among ethnic minority carers and to develop new social connections
• Facilitate access to networks of social support;
• Facilitate access to a transnational familial system of support;
• Provide flexible English language classes

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https://research-portal.uws.ac.uk/en/publications/52543983-2d25-4a85-84ae-9c29434a1984