Care home workers ‘almost twice as likely to be in poverty as average UK worker'
The adult social care sector has long faced problems with staff retention and recruitment, with an estimated 131,000 vacancies on any given day.
No date has yet been announced for details to be given on the Fair Pay Agreement as part of the Employment Rights Bill, which is currently making its way through the House of Lords.
It is expected the Government will confirm how much funding will be available to support it and launch a consultation at some point later this year into how it should work.
The spending review published last month stated there would be an increase of more than £4 billion of funding available for adult social care in 2028-29, compared with 2025-26.
But the Health Foundation has estimated this might not be enough to both fund the sector more generally to meet rising demand for social care and to ensure better pay for workers.
The charity estimated an extra £3.4 billion would be necessary just to meet demand for publicly-funded social care in England in 2028/29, while increasing pay for the care workforce to at least NHS band three levels could cost a further £2.3 billion.
Current band three annual salaries for full-time workers in roles such as emergency care assistants and occupational therapy support in the NHS are between £24,937 and £26,598.
Such an increase could lead to a 6.6% rise on average in household income for care home staff and their families, leading to 'a modest but important reduction in poverty', the charity said.
For the poorest fifth of care home staff and their families, household income could rise by 14.7%, it added.
According to Health Foundation analysis of national data from 2021/22 to 2023/24, someone working in a care home in the UK is almost twice as likely to live in poverty as the average UK worker, while children in those families are three times more likely to be materially deprived as those in the average working household.
The analysis, which used data from the Households Below Average Income (HBAI) and the Family Resources Survey (FRS), found that over the three-year period, care home workers were twice as likely to live in a food-insecure household as the average UK worker and twice as likely to have used a food bank in the past year compared with other workers.
While 2.9% of workers in residential care had used a food bank, this compared with 1.5% of all workers.
The charity said its findings 'likely underestimate poverty rates for the whole care workforce' as they focused their research on staff in care homes rather than those looking after people in their own homes, where the organisation said 'problems with insecure employment and underpayment are even greater'.
The report states that, given its estimates of how much funding is needed to meet demand in the sector and provide better pay, the current £4 billion announced by Government risks 'leaving local authorities to choose between providing people with the care they need and funding much needed wage rises for the care workforce'.
Lucinda Allen, policy fellow at the foundation, said while social care is 'vital and fulfilling work', it has 'long been underpaid and undervalued'.
She added: 'Around one in every 20 working people in England is employed in social care. Enhancing pay and working conditions in the care sector could be an important part of the Government's growth agenda, improve people's lives, and help fill the 131,000 social care vacancies.
'The Government must deliver on its promise of fair pay for care workers, alongside wider improvements to our care system.'
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) urged the Government to swiftly introduce a fair pay agreement, after the report highlighted 'the urgent need to improve pay and conditions for care workers'.
RCN England executive director Patricia Marquis said: 'It is a sad state of affairs that such a vital workforce is so poorly valued and little wonder that there are so many vacancies. When care homes cannot recruit enough staff it leaves too many without access to the care they deserve.
'Ministers must not delay in introducing a fair pay agreement and a new body to improve conditions for care workers, as well as rooting out exploitation. Failure to do so will only undermine ambitions to move care into the community and deepen a social care workforce crisis that harms the vulnerable.'
Unison general secretary Christina McAnea described it as a 'national scandal those looking after some of the most vulnerable are more likely to be on poverty pay and struggling to make ends meet'.
She added: 'By finding the funding for a fair pay agreement that should see care workers rewarded properly, the Government will be showing it's serious about transforming the crisis-ridden sector.
'Decent wages have to be at the heart of the promised national care service the country needs so desperately.'
A Government spokesperson said: 'Care workers play a vital role in society caring for our most vulnerable and deserve to be paid properly for their hard work.
'That's why we've launched the first ever Fair Pay Agreement for carers, increased the National Living Wage – worth £1,400 more a year for full-time workers – and delivered the biggest ever rise in the Carer's Allowance earnings threshold.
'We have also launched an independent review into social care to build a National Care Service, which will also look at how we can improve working conditions and retention.'
The Casey Commission, launched earlier this year, aims to set out a plan to implement a national care service, but social care leaders have previously raised concerns over the potential timeline of 2036 for some recommended reforms to be introduced.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Times
an hour ago
- Times
BMA ‘risking lives' by blocking emergency strike exemptions
The NHS has accused the British Medical Association (BMA) of 'risking patient safety' by refusing emergency requests to allow striking doctors to cross picket lines and return to work. Since a five-day junior doctor strike began on Friday morning, the BMA has rejected 18 requests from NHS hospitals for doctors to break the strike to stop patients coming to harm, including in cancer care. The exemptions, known as 'derogations', are requested by senior NHS medics in exceptional circumstances to protect patient safety, such as if there is a major accident. They have to be agreed on a case-by-case basis by a committee of BMA leaders, including Dr Tom Dolphin, the union's chairman, who specifies whether a doctor can go back to a particular ward. The BMA said that NHS England made 47 derogation requests up until Sunday evening for 125 doctors, but that it had only agreed to nine of these requests. The remaining requests have been refused, withdrawn or are pending. Thousands of resident doctors, formerly known as junior doctors, are out on strike until 7am on Wednesday as they pursue a 29 per cent pay rise. Hospitals were instructed to cancel as few procedures and appointments as they can safely manage, to minimise disruption for patients and prevent harmful delays to routine care, meaning some have kept 96 per cent of appointments running. As part of this tougher approach to the BMA, Jim Mackey, the NHS chief executive, also encouraged hospitals to seek derogations in more circumstances. However, the BMA has said it will not approve the requests if they are for 'non-urgent care' and that the record number of derogation requests reflects a 'dangerous lack of planning' by NHS hospitals. An NHS spokesman said: 'The NHS is continuing to work hard to maintain more services than in previous rounds of industrial action, and early indications show the plan is working with the vast majority of planned care going ahead. 'Derogation requests for resident doctors to work in exceptional circumstances are being made by the most senior clinical teams on the ground, and delays or refusals by the British Medical Association questions their integrity and risks patient safety.' Requests rejected by the BMA include for a resident doctor to carry out biopsies on men with suspected prostate cancer at Milton Keynes Hospital. The doctor subsequently voluntarily decided to break the strike to return to work, and Wes Streeting, the health secretary, praised their 'bravery' and said it 'ensured these men got the care they deserve'. The BMA has granted requests, including for a doctor to return to work on the neonatal ward at Nottingham City Hospital. Three BMA members were also allowed to work an A&E night shift at the Northern General in Sheffield, which the union said was 'due to the failure to train consultants' on a new electronic patient record system. In another case, King's College Hospital in London had a derogation agreed for its radiology department, but the BMA then revoked it and said the hospital had made a 'false submission'. King's said its request was made in good faith. • Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt, the BMA's resident doctors committee co-chairs said: 'Patient safety remains our highest priority during strike action. We rely on NHS England to ensure that safety by planning services in line with the levels of staffing available. If a critical event or an emergency occurs, we work with them to make sure staff can be called back into work on a voluntary basis. This agreement — called a national derogations process — is there strictly to be used should a safety-critical, urgent event occur. It is deeply irresponsible for hospitals to use it to facilitate non-urgent care or cover for poor planning on their part. 'Unfortunately, the number of derogation requests during this strike round has greatly exceeded that in previous rounds, far more even than NHSE [NHS England] are publicly acknowledging. We therefore have to question why NHSE has failed to plan properly. So far, we have had to revoke two derogations where it was proven that the hospital had either been misinformed about their own staffing, or had deliberately misled us. 'We need NHS England to be honest about their failure to plan appropriately which has led to Trusts relying on the BMA to bail them out. It is imperative that this does not happen again for any future strike action — which we hope will not be necessary.' • Kemi Badenoch says Tories would ban doctors from going on strike Streeting has thanked staff working to minimise disruption and insisted the country 'will not be held to ransom by the leadership of the BMA'. He added: 'I particularly want to thank resident doctors who didn't take part in these strikes and went into work to help their colleagues and patients. 'I've been on calls with operational leaders and frontline clinicians, and I've been inspired by the stories of what NHS staff are doing to pick up the slack left by striking resident doctors. I've also spoken with patients directly affected by their actions.'
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Cambridge graduate who died after refusing chemo ‘was anti-vax'
A University of Cambridge graduate who died after refusing chemotherapy told a court that she was 'anti-vax', an inquest has heard. Paloma Shemirani, 23, died at Royal Sussex County Hospital on July 24 last year after declining the treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Her mother, Kay 'Kate' Shemirani, rose to prominence on social media by sharing Covid conspiracy theories, the inquest at Oakwood House in Maidstone, Kent, heard previously. In written statements submitted to the family division of the High Court in spring last year, Paloma said she had declined chemotherapy partly because of her 'background in natural healing', the inquest heard on Monday. The proceedings, which involved the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, focused on the appropriateness of her care. Paloma said she was 'delighted' with her alternative treatment and 'sure' she would 'make a full recovery' if left to continue it, the inquest was told. She also claimed her human rights had been violated by NHS practitioners in the statement, which was read by lawyer Alison Hewitt. It said: 'I am far from being a vulnerable young adult. Apart from becoming independent after I moved to Cambridge for university, I have practised the same principles that I grew up with. 'I have always been extremely health conscious: sticking to all-organic produce, I prepare all my own meals and I absolutely do not drink or cook with tap water. I have never taken drugs, despite pressure to, and I rarely drink alcohol. 'If I became ill, I've always turned to my mum first for advice as she is a trained nurse and qualified nutritionist. Practically fanatical about my health, my close friends know me as a staunch advocate for all proven natural healing.' She also described her mother as 'an extremely forceful advocate for natural health', who was 'misquoted' by people claiming 'those natural solutions are conspiratorial'. Kay Shemirani was struck off as a nurse in 2021, with a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) committee finding she had spread Covid misinformation that 'put the public at a significant risk of harm', the inquest heard previously. Another statement in Paloma's name added 'my friends know me as a staunch advocate of the Gerson therapy' and that she is 'anti-vax'. She said she had been using Gerson therapy as one mode of treatment on the advice of Dr Patrick Villers, her mother's ex-fiancee, and that at 15 years old she spent three weeks in his camp in Mexico where it was practised. Gerson therapy involves a strict organic vegetarian diet and enemas, and has been used in cancer treatment, though Cancer Research UK says that there is no scientific evidence it can be used as a treatment for cancer. Her GP was also monitoring her blood and progress, the former Cambridge student said. She went on to deny having the disease and said: 'I was not diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma... I have never had a shadow on my lung, this is absurd fantasy, no proof.' She described the diagnosis as 'suspected and unconfirmed', and said a 'differential diagnosis' only meant cancer could not be ruled out. Paloma understood that she had a one in five chance of surviving the commonplace R-CHOP treatment that was offered, and feared it would be likely to make her infertile, the inquest heard. 'I do not want to undergo such a harsh treatment that could even kill me when there is a possibility this is not cancer,' she said. The High Court statement alleged multiple violations of human rights in her care, the inquest heard, including Articles three, six and eight, and possibly Articles one, five and 12. 'I am so shocked, as are others assisting me, especially my mother, that this could take place today,' the statement said. 'These were put in place forever to prevent what Dr Mengele did in the Second World War. How could this happen today?', it continued. Josef Mengele, the notorious Nazi doctor, performed experiments on his victims in Auschwitz. The patient said symptoms with which she presented in hospital, including a swollen face, excruciating chest pain and being unable to move her arm, had subsided. The inquest continues.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
'Anti-vax' woman, 23, died after refusing chemotherapy
A woman who died after refusing treatment for cancer told a court she was "anti-vax", an inquest has Shemirani, who had declined chemotherapy for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, suffered a fatal heart attack caused by her tumour at the Royal Sussex County Hospital (RSCH) on 24 July last 23-year-old's mother Kay (Kate) Shemirani, who shared Covid conspiracy theories on social media, has blamed doctors' interventions for her daughter's had also claimed her human rights had been violated by NHS practitioners, likening it to what the Nazis did during WWII, the inquest was told at Oakwood House in Maidstone, Kent. In previous written statements - submitted to the family division of the High Court in spring 2024 and read out at the hearing on Monday - she described the alleged violations as akin to experiments carried out at who grew up in Uckfield, East Sussex, denied even having non-Hodgkin lymphoma, calling it an "absurd fantasy, with no proof".The Cambridge graduate described the diagnosis as "suspected and unconfirmed", adding that she had a "background in natural healing".In addition, she feared that if she were to survive chemotherapy it might make her infertile. "I do not want to undergo such a harsh treatment that could even kill me when there is a possibility this is not cancer", she said. She described her mother, who was struck off as a nurse in 2021, as "an extremely forceful advocate for natural health" who was often "misquoted".Paloma had turned to Gerson therapy - a strict organic vegetarian diet involving enemas - on the advice of her mother's ex-fiancee, Dr Patrick Villers, though Cancer Research UK said there was no scientific evidence of it being an effective proceedings, which involve Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, were on the appropriateness of her care and heard how Paloma had said she was "delighted" with her alternative treatment and "sure" she would "make a full recovery" if left to continue inquest, led by coroner Catherine Wood, reporting from PA Media.
