Expectations & Aspirations: Public attitudes towards social care

In advance of the publication of a government Green Paper on social care, ippr and Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP commissioned research to explore public levels of awareness and understanding of social care provision. The findings expose a lack of awareness about social care, confusion about how services are funded and a widespread lack of preparation or planning for future care needs. A real concern arising from our research is that the public's current understanding of social care is insufficient to enable an informed debate about the future of social care to take place.

This briefing is the first output from the ippr-PwC social care programme. This programme seeks to generate public debate about the future of social care; and consider how the social contract between the state, organisations, communities, families and individuals may need to fundamentally change to ensure that the future of social care is based on principles of fairness and sustainability.