ABSTRACT
Carers, generally understood as individuals who provide unpaid support to others with particular needs, have only recently become legal subjects in UK law and policy. They still have a rather ethereal existence: occasionally flitting into sight in labour law and then out of it; appearing on the outer reaches of property law; emerging into the light within social welfare law, but overshadowed by disability rights discourse. Their presence within some aspects of public policy is larger. They feature as subjects in effusively entitled government policy documents, such as Recognised, Valued and Supported: New Steps for the Carers Strategy (DH 2010), and have gained visibility and status through their advocacy organisation, Carers UK. This organisation adds a dose of realism to a roseate public image of selfless altruism, based upon the everyday experiences of providing care.
