Maidment, J.2016-08-282016-08-282016Maidment, J. (2016) Informal Caregivers: An invisible unpaid workforce. In J.Maidment and L.Beddoe (Ed.). Social Policy for social work and human services in Aotearoa New Zealand (pp. 356). Christchurch: Canterbury University Press.978-1-927145-73-9978-1-927145-73-9http://hdl.handle.net/10092/12630The crucial role informal caregivers play in supporting people to remain in their own home for as long as possible is evident from both international and national research. The state, through its policies, has shifted the cost and responsibility of long-term care away from institutional provision to being carried out by families in the community. The majority of informal caregivers are women, who compromise their own long-term financial security to care for others. Caregiving involves providing practical, emotional, financial and spiritual support, which is demanding and often unrecognised work. Social work has a significant role to play in championing for caregiver recognition as part of direct practice and in macro social change efforts. The challenge for social work is to make visible the vast contribution informal caregivers make to the wellbeing of others and to the community as a whole, while striving for a more equitable distribution of resources so that caregivers can also access meaningful support and long-term income securityenPermission granted by publisher to uploadChapters