Ryan FowlerMore than 600,000 care workers in England should receive a £2,000 pay rise to help tackle persistent workforce shortages in the sector, according to a new report published by the Fabian Society and backed by UNISON.
The report, Seizing the Opportunity, argues that the Government must allocate £1.5bn to establish a fair pay agreement for adult social care. This would raise minimum pay to the equivalent of NHS healthcare assistants performing clinical tasks, currently £13.17 per hour, and attract more staff to fill the 120,000 vacancies across care homes and support services.
Negotiations are under way between ministers, employers and unions to establish the agreement, which aims to address low pay and poor retention rates in the care sector. The Fabian Society says the plan would boost pay for hundreds of thousands of staff and reduce turnover by 27,000 per year, saving employers £163m in recruitment costs.
The report comes amid changes to immigration rules that will limit overseas recruitment, increasing pressure to attract UK workers. It estimates that matching NHS pay could bring in an additional 90,000 care workers and make care jobs more competitive, improving services for families and relieving pressure on the NHS by speeding up hospital discharges.
Joe Dromey, general secretary of the Fabian Society and co-author of the report, said: “The treatment of the social care workforce is a national scandal. Care workers deliver vital support, yet they face poverty pay, chronic insecurity, and have few opportunities for progression. The fair pay agreement has the capacity to transform social care. Through delivering a much-deserved pay rise, it would tackle the workforce crisis, improve the quality of care, and narrow inequalities.”
UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said: “Raising wages in care is the first step to turning around this beleaguered sector. For too long, governments have got away with funding care on the cheap. This has helped create the current crisis, which is harming the NHS, failing the people who need care and leaving many families struggling to cope.”
The report says that the £1.5bn needed could be offset by £600m in increased tax receipts and lower benefit spending. It proposes funding the pay rise through tax changes, including aligning private health insurance tax with VAT and reducing the tax-free pension lump sum, which could generate up to £2.8bn annually.
The call for action comes as demand for care grows with the ageing population. The Fabian Society and UNISON warn that without higher pay, recruitment challenges will deepen and vulnerable people will continue to face gaps in care.
