Care home workers ‘almost twice as likely to be in poverty as average UK worker'

South Wales Guardian

3 days ago

Earlier this month, following the launch of the Government's 10-year health plan focused on the NHS, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he would 'shortly be setting out how we will deliver the first ever fair pay agreements for the care workforce, building a real social care progression'.
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.