Age UK calls for pay equalisation with the NHS

The Age UK charity is calling on the government to improve the salaries of care workers so that they are the same as those for people doing the equivalent job in the NHS.

The average salary for a care worker being only around £15,000 - about half the UK average. This means care workers are paid 24p less an hour than shop assistants, despite the vital nature of their role and the skill required to help people with complex needs. Meanwhile, their counterparts in the NHS have been awarded a real-terms pay increase up until 2020/2021.

A new report from the charity highlights how tough life has been for care workers during the pandemic, emphasising the extent to which care workers have often had to put their own health and financial worries at the bottom of the pile while battling to keep the virus at bay and their clients safe and well.

Despite being roughly equivalent in size to the NHS workforce, the 1.65 million strong care workforce has seen only relatively limited support put in place. While the NHS has been prioritised for PPE, testing, mental health support, priority access to shops and pay rises, offers to social care have been more limited and have generally only arrived late in the day.  

As well as calling on the government to do more to recognise their enormous contribution by improving their salaries so they are the same as those for people doing the equivalent job in the NHS, Age UK also says that more needs to be done to better support their physical and mental well-being. Four in five social care workers reported that their mental health had been damaged by their work during the pandemic.

Even with a recent recruitment drive, the care sector in England still needs to fill around 122,000 job vacancies. It was also estimated prior to the pandemic that to meet the needs of an ageing society the care workforce would need to grow by 2.6 per cent every year until 2035, to a total of two million jobs. Need has been increased by the pandemic so that startling statistic is now in all likelihood an under-estimate.

Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director at Age UK, said: “How have we allowed a position to be reached in which you can earn more working in a supermarket than providing vital care, and enjoy better terms, conditions and career opportunities in the NHS for doing precisely the same job?

“The lack of government funding for care often translates into exploitative working conditions for care staff, which in turn undermine the quality of care on offer to older and disabled people. Social care is above all a people business and if you don’t value the men and women who provide it you are undervaluing those who receive it too.”

“For the sake of everyone who needs social care as well as all those who deliver it we are calling on the Government to treat care workers fairly and provide the funding for them to get a decent wage. Their pay and conditions need levelling up to match those of similar roles in the NHS. The pandemic has shown how much we rely on social care and how badly it needs to be reformed, and a good place to start is by paying the workforce properly.”

Ian Hudspeth, chair of the Local Government Association Community Wellbeing Board said: “Care workers have done a phenomenal job in very challenging circumstances to keep people of all ages safe and well during Covid-19 and their dedication and commitment has been rightly acknowledged by the public and politicians alike. But the pandemic has also further highlighted the many longstanding issues around the pay and conditions for those working in the care sector which must now be addressed.

“The legacy of the pandemic must include a new deal for care workers that addresses pay, training and development, career progression and professionalisation and recognition. Any such changes to pay and reward must be fully funded by national government. The upcoming Spending Review must provide councils with the extra funding they need to help shore up social care ahead of winter and get through the second wave of Covid-19, while also using this as the basis for future reform of social care to place it on a long-term, sustainable footing.”