Title page 1

Contents 3

ABOUT THIS REPORT 4

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 5

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 6

INTRODUCTION 9

1.1. WHY CARE? 10

1.1.1. Social care support faces systematic challenges 10

1.1.2. The cost of care is primarily carried by ordinary citizens 10

1.1.3. A history of abandoned reforms 11

1.1.4. A window of opportunity in 2026 11

1.2. METHODOLOGY 12

1.2.1. Data collection 13

1.2.2. Quantitative and computational analysis 14

1.2.3. Qualitative deep dive 14

1.2.4. Anonymity 15

1.2.5. Research scope 15

1.2.6. Policy selection 15

RESEARCH FINDINGS: A DEEP DIVE INTO SOCIAL CARE 16

2.1. THERE IS A GULF BETWEEN EXPECTATIONS AND THE REALITY OF SOCIAL CARE SUPPORT 17

2.2. PEOPLE DESCRIBE HAVING TO FIGHT TO ACCESS STATE SUPPORT 19

2.2.1. Access to state-supported adult social care can be adversarial 19

2.2.2. Social care support for children involves numerous hurdles 21

2.3. PEOPLE SAY GOVERNMENT RULES ARE EXTREMELY COMPLEX, CONFUSING, AND INFLEXIBLE 22

2.3.1. People said the rules were prescriptive, inflexible and unrealistic 22

2.3.2. Rules on care-related welfare are said to be unrealistically complex and inflexible 24

2.4. THE CURRENT SYSTEM IMPACTS BOTH CARE RECIPIENTS AND CAREGIVERS 27

2.4.1. Care recipients and their families say they make significant sacrifices 27

2.4.2. Unpaid carers say they are under-supported and exhausted 28

2.4.3. Professional care workers say they are underpaid and burned out 30

2.5. SOCIAL CARE CAN FEEL LIFE CHANGING - IF YOU CAN ACCESS SUPPORT 31

EMERGING TRENDS: COST OF LIVING FEARS ARE RE-EMERGING 33

OVERARCHING THEMES: SUPPORT SEEKING IN DIFFICULT TIMES 35

4.1. WELFARE, PERSONAL FINANCES, AND POLITICS WERE THE LARGEST THEMES 35

4.2. UNIVERSAL CREDIT, POLITICS, AND DEBT WERE KEY ISSUES 37

CONCLUSION 38

APPENDIX 39

A. ADDITIONAL DATA 39

B. DETAILED METHODOLOGY 43

Charts 14

CHART 1. FREQUENCY OF POSTS OVER TIME 14

CHART 2. FREQUENCY OF CARE-RELATED POSTS OVER TIME, BROKEN DOWN BY THEME 17

CHART 3. EMERGING THEMES 34

CHART 4. MENTIONS OF MAIN THEMES OVER TIME 36

FIGURE 1. WORDCLOUD OF THE MOST COMMONLY DISCUSSED WELFARE PAYMENTS 41

FIGURE 2. WORDCLOUD OF THE MOST COMMONLY DISCUSSED PUBLIC FIGURES 42

FIGURE 3. WORDCLOUD OF THE MOST COMMONLY DISCUSSED ORGANISATIONS 42