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

Abstract: In I990 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 I970s, 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.