Care workers should be given £2,000 pay rise as treatment of workforce a ‘national scandal’ according to report

19 May 2025, 06:04

Care workers should be given a £2,000 pay rise in a bid to tackle a growing workforce crisis in the sector, according to a report.

The Fabian Society urged the Government to set aside £1.5 billion to give the pay rise to more than half a million care staff in England.

A report, supported by Unison, calls for a higher minimum wage to be set for healthcare assistants doing clinical tasks.

The Fabian Society said low pay rates mean care jobs are not sufficiently attractive to many jobseekers, so employers are struggling to recruit staff to fill 120,000 vacancies in care homes and other support services in England.

The report added that changes being introduced in the Government's Immigration White Paper mean care companies will no longer be able to recruit from overseas.

"This makes it all the more urgent that the care sector increases its appeal as a career destination for UK workers," said the report.

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Joe Dromey, general secretary of the Fabian Society, 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."

Christina McAnea, Unison's general secretary, said: "Raising wages in care is the first step to turning around this beleaguered sector.

"Care work is highly skilled, as anyone with a relative in care knows only too well, but it's paid as if it's a low-skilled job.

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"That's why too few people want to work in the sector and employers have become so dependent on staff from overseas.

"Raising wages in care is going to cost money, but it's a price well worth paying.

"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.

"Until care wages rise, the sector will never be able to recruit the staff needed and those gaps in the workforce will increase as the UK's population ages.

"Care work is tough, and people can earn more delivering parcels or making coffee on the high street.

"By finding the cash to fund wage rises in care, the Government will be showing it's serious about transforming the sector.

"This will go down well with the public and help create the promised national care service the country needs so desperately."