Individual or state: Where should the balance of social care costs fall?
Thursday 29 October 2026 16:30 to 18:00Speakers: |
Natasha Curry and Camille Oung (Nuffield Trust) |
Location: |
EP Abraham Lecture Theatre and Online |
In anticipation of government reforms to social care, this event will explore the complex question of where responsibility for social care costs should fall. In the current English care system, narrow eligibility to state-funded care, based on needs and means, sees the vast majority of costs falling on individuals and their families with very little certainty about who will get funding or what they will be expected to pay. This system has evolved with seemingly little explicit design. In contrast, many other countries have carefully considered where the balance should be between the state and the individual, based on articulated understanding of fairness and affordability. The session will draw on those international examples to explore what features might be desirable and feasible in an English context. It will raise challenging questions about how we can move beyond the often-divisive debate about who pays to consider what, as a society, we think is fair, necessary and possible. The material presented will be based on the Nuffield Trust’s recent report on international cost-sharing models.
About the speakers
Natasha Curry MBE is Deputy Director of Policy at the Nuffield Trust and leads the Trust’s work on social care. As part of her work on social care, Natasha has developed extensive knowledge of approaches taken by other countries with the aim of identifying transferable lessons for England. Camille Oung is a Fellow at the Nuffield Trust. She leads the Trust’s work on social care across the UK’s four countries, and has extensively researched France’s social care system.
About the event
This talk will be streamed live online to facilitate access for those unable to attend in-person. Please note that the picture and audio quality of the livestream may be disrupted and there will be limited opportunities to ask questions online. We encourage you to attend in person if you can.
The in-person talk will be followed by a short drinks reception.
