Carers, families, relatives: Socio-legal conceptions of care-giving relationships

Abstract

In 1990 for the first time the term “carer” was employed in legislation in the NHS and Community Care Act. The word had emerged in academic literature in the 1970s, spreading to professional discourse in the 1980s; and it marks a change in emphasis from earlier usage in terms of families, relatives and next of kin. The law had previously touched on the areas of care-giving and family relations but within different frames of reference. This paper explores four of these: the “liable relatives” tradition of the Poor Law; the inheritance laws; medical decision-making by next of kin; and the role of the “nearest relative” in mental health legislation. It then discusses the significance of the emergence of the new terminology and the welfare debates within which it is embedded.