INFORMAL CARE
Social Policy is an interdisciplinary and applied subject concerned with the analysis of societies' responses to social need. Social Policy is focused on those aspects of the economy, society and polity that are necessary to human existence and the means by which they can be provided. These basic human needs include: food and shelter, a sustainable and safe environment, the promotion of health and treatment of the sick, the care and support of those unable to live a fully independent life.
Regarding from this point of view one of the many ways to provide help is informal care, which was maybe the oldest way to give someone help. Looking back over the years in the traditional family always was someone who helped those who are in needs even if we speak about helping with children or elderly.
Using the definition of informal care from A Dictionary of Sociology ‘Informal care- care given to dependent persons, such as the sick and elderly, outside the framework of organized, paid, professional work. Attention to the importance of informal care has increased with the adoption of community care policies which place increasing reliance on care provided by family, relatives, and friends, often women(1)’ we understand that informal care is often an ‘attribute’ of the women.
Caring as a feminine issue was a concept which became clearly in the 1980s because the women had les options to work and they have ‘the responsibility’(2) to take care of their family welfare.
According to Caroline Glendinning and Hilary Arksey informal care ’describe the extra help given to ill, disable and older people by friends and relatives, as distinct form that given as part of formal paid job such as nursing, care assistant, home help or support worker’(3).
Such as the ageing population more and more elderly need support from their family. Looking at the last statistic the