What are the implications?
Posted: Thu Feb 06, 2025 6:28 am
Our findings demonstrate the stark reality that, for many residential care workers, work is not a reliable way out of poverty and deprivation. Further analysis is needed to understand how financial hardship affects staff in the home care sector (who often face different challenges, such as not being paid for travel between people’s homes). It is likely that our analysis understates levels of poverty and deprivation among the care workforce. The current cost-of living crisis risks making their spain rcs data lives more difficult, as recent BBC reports of care providers resorting to giving out food packages to staff show.
Increasing pay and improving work in social care should be a priority for government in England. Additional funding for social care was announced in the Autumn Statement 2022 and a rise in the minimum wage in April 2023 will increase pay for many care workers. But there is uncertainty as to how far the extra money will go. Previously, underfunded increases to the minimum wage have increased pressure on staffing budgets and narrowed the difference in pay between the least and most experienced care workers.
Looking ahead, government must develop a long-term workforce plan for social care, including measures to increase pay and improve terms and conditions for staff. This will require further investment and measures to ensure money reaches workers. Potential options like a sector-specific minimum wage or sectoral wage board need to be looked at in the round as part of a comprehensive strategy for supporting and growing the care workforce.
Increasing pay and improving work in social care should be a priority for government in England. Additional funding for social care was announced in the Autumn Statement 2022 and a rise in the minimum wage in April 2023 will increase pay for many care workers. But there is uncertainty as to how far the extra money will go. Previously, underfunded increases to the minimum wage have increased pressure on staffing budgets and narrowed the difference in pay between the least and most experienced care workers.
Looking ahead, government must develop a long-term workforce plan for social care, including measures to increase pay and improve terms and conditions for staff. This will require further investment and measures to ensure money reaches workers. Potential options like a sector-specific minimum wage or sectoral wage board need to be looked at in the round as part of a comprehensive strategy for supporting and growing the care workforce.