The Liberal Family Care Plan

Canadian families want the option of caring for a loved one who has fallen ill – whether it’s an aging parent or grandparent, a young child, or a spouse – at home.

Today, 2.7 million Canadians provide care for seniors, and by 2017, Canada’s 150^th birthday, it is estimated that the number of seniors with chronic conditions requiring home care services will increase by one-third. Family caregivers are responsible for 80% of Canada’s homecare services, providing over $9 billion in unpaid care each year.

Despite their value to our economy, our health, our families and our communities, the important work done by family caregivers has gone largely unrecognized. To make matters worse, the long-term challenge of Canada’s aging population is being ignored by the Harper government.

These are difficult economic times, so that means governments – and Canadians – must choose. Stephen Harper and the Conservatives choose tax breaks for corporations. The Liberal Party has made a choice to stand with Canadian families struggling with the costs of family care.

Family care leads to unexpected out-of-pocket expenses, and often results in lost income from work absences. Consider that 40 percent of family caregivers use their personal savings to survive. Well over half have household incomes below $45,000 a year, and one quarter of all family caregivers have to miss a month or more of work.

Liberals believe family caregivers need to be cared for too. To help families care for their parents, grandparents or sick loved ones of any age, a future Liberal government will invest $1 billion annually in a new Family Care Plan to help reduce the economic pressure on hundreds of thousands of Canadian families.

The Liberal Family Care Plan will introduce a new six-month Family Care Employment Insurance Benefit, similar to the EI parental leave benefit, so that more Canadians can care for gravely ill family members at home without having to quit their jobs.

The current compassionate care program only allows for six weeks, and is highly restrictive. We can do better than that. Under this new program, families can claim the six months in blocks over a year long period, and share it with other family members.

A Liberal government will also offer a new Family Care Tax Benefit, modeled on the Child Tax Benefit, to help low- and middle-income family caregivers defray the cost of providing essential care to a family member at home. This will provide hundreds of thousands of families with a tax-free payment worth up to $1,350 per year to help defray the costs of providing family care.

We’ll pay for this Family Care Plan by making better choices, including cancelling the Harper Conservatives’ irresponsible, $6 billion corporate tax break, when Canada’s corporate tax rates are already among the lowest in the world and 25% lower than the United States. Liberals will use the savings to invest in deficit reduction and the priorities of Canadian families, such as care.

Making family care easier also helps to contain health care costs in the long run. A future Liberal government will ensure that home care is part of the discussion with the provinces and territories when the 2004 Health Accord expires in 2014, so that Canadians can have access to a similar standard of home care services regardless of where they live. Canadians can trust the Liberal Party to safeguard public health care.