Living Wage for Social Care
Living Wage for Social Care
Care work is skilled work, which requires you to be responsible for someone in their hour of need. No one taking on this responsibility should be paid the bare minimum. We must ensure that care workers are paid enough to meet their basic needs.
43% of adult social care workers in England earn below the real Living Wage, but it doesn’t need to be this way. Scotland has a policy of ensuring care workers are paid the real Living Wage, and campaigning from Citizens Cymru Wales led to the Welsh Government making the same commitment from 2023. Citizens UK are calling on the UK Government to use every lever at its disposal to ensure all social care workers in England are paid at least the real Living Wage
All care workers need to earn at least the real Living Wage. Over 400,000 workers in social care currently earn below the real Living Wage in England. In London, 80 per cent of care workers are paid below the London Living Wage. Analysis by the Living Wage Foundation (June 2024) shows it would cost the future government £330 million to ensure care workers earn the real Living Wage. This is less than 2 per cent of the social care budget for the coming year.
Show your support for carers by signing the petition, and help us persuade the next Government to introduce the real Living Wage for social care workers.
The Living Wage Foundation has released a report on The Real Living Wage in Social Care and is calling on the next Government to ensure all social care workers are paid at least the real Living Wage.
Social care workers do vital, skilled and demanding work, but this is not reflected in their pay. We are calling on the next Government to ensure all social care workers are paid at least the real Living Wage for all hours worked, including in-work travel time and sleep-in shifts, by putting in place sufficient funding, delivery mechanisms and guidance for Local Authorities.
What is the real Living Wage?
The real Living Wage is an hourly rate, calculated according to cost of living in the UK by the Living Wage Foundation. The UK Living Wage is currently £12.00 per hour (UK). The London Living Wage is currently £13.15 per hour.
Launched by Citizens UK in 2001, the Living Wage campaign has won £2 billion in additional wages, lifting over 400,000 people out of working poverty.
Funding for a Living Wage for Social Care would cost UK government an extra £1.4 billion per year with nearly half recouped in reduced benefit costs and increase income tax revenue. A House of Commons Committee has published figures (October 2020) backs care worker wages to rise beyond the national minimum and wider social care reform through an urgent £7 billion financial settlement from central government.
Around 8 in 10 people recognise that care workers are underpaid and deserve a real living wage.
Citizens UK are asking for a living wage for care workers and are working with a broad alliance of national leaders and care providers around this campaign. It’s working. In 2021-2022 we saw more than 2,500 care worker wages uplifted through Living Wage Accreditation including Sunderland City Council and Newham Council. The Future Social Care Coalition is also calling for substantial wage increases in the sector and ‘parity of esteem’ with the NHS.
Public think care workers are underpaid | The Fawcett Society; Seven in 10 Tory voters say Boris Johnson should give care workers a pay rise - Mirror Online.
Citizens UK’s Living Wage for Careworkers Charter (actionnetwork.org)
Research shows that 56% of care workers skip meals due to low pay, whilst 73% said they were struggling to afford their day-to-day essentials like. Sadly, 87% also said they worry so much about money that it affects their everyday life.
The state of the adult social care sector and workforce in England (skillsforcare.org.uk).
What happens after the clapping finishes? • Resolution Foundation: 2.
Social care: funding and workforce - Committees - UK Parliament
Here are some institution-specific resources we recommended to members to raise the profile of this campaign.
- Anglican/Catholic: organise a celebration of care workers in your church: Service For Caregivers
- Muslim: Organise a roundtable in your Mosque on Islam and in-work poverty: Muslims & the real Living Wage
- School: Run a school assembly or lesson on the Living Wage: Schools & the real Living Wage
- Youth Groups: Activities for young people to get involved in the Living Wage campaign: Youth groups & the Real Living Wage
Our Wins
A year of action: Winning pay rises for 88,000 people
Between 2021-2022, community leaders from 17 chapters across Citizens UK took action and won commitments from the Welsh Government, local authorities, care providers and large NHS health trusts to pay workers a real Living Wage. The estimated impact of these commitments, including Living Wage Foundation accreditation, means that 88,096 people will benefit. Securing these pay rises has inspired us to continue our campaign for the Government to provide support and funding to ensure that care workers across the country can receive the real Living Wage.
Following grassroots campaigning from Citizens Cymru Wales , the Welsh government pledged £70 million to ensure that care workers are paid at least the real Living Wage, impacting 50,000 people.
This came after local organisations realised that the number of care workers relying on foodbanks was rising at an alarming rate, and took action to win change.
We know that a real Living Wage is the answer and we have the power to make change. Greater Manchester Citizens campaigned with Salford UNISON to win pay rises for care workers across the region. They ended up persuading one of the UK's largest care providers to commit to paying every care home worker across the country the real Living Wage, resulting in £19 million back into workers' pockets.
Our Executive Director, Matthew Bolton, responds to the statement from @ProfMartinGreen, Chief Executive of @CareEngland: https://t.co/NqfKt1IYrh pic.twitter.com/t1sQRbZjld
— Citizens UK (@CitizensUK) July 14, 2022
Editor @Anna_CTMag caught up with @CitizensUK UK chief executive @MatthewBolton_ outside @BupaUK and @Barchester_care headquarters in London to find out how he planned to persuade them to commit to paying their workers the #realLivingWage. https://t.co/LMfcs2GOPZ
— Caring Times (@Caring_Times) July 15, 2022
How you can get involved
We are asking businesses, Local Authority leaders and Civil society leaders to:
Become an Accredited Living Wage Employer
Commit to paying all staff a real Living Wage and become officially accredited with the Living Wage Foundation
Take action with your local Chapter
Campaigning for a Living Wage for Social Care is a priority across Citizens UK chapters. Get in touch with your nearest one and find out how you or your institution can get involved.
Join the Living Wage Academy
Each year we run an Academy program with the Living Wage Foundation for Citizens UK community leaders, and employees of accredited businesses, to help you campaign for the real Living Wage. Connect with other leaders, learn more about the accreditation process to support your local alliance, and get involved in live media campaigns and Living Wage projects.
Read our Toolkit
The Living Wage Foundation can answer your questions and help you work out complexities. Start by reading their toolkit for Health and Social Care.
Featured Content
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Citizens UK leaders unite outside Barchester Healthcare HQ in London to demand a real Living Wage for care workers amidst cost of living crisis
Citizens UK community leaders from across the capital, including care workers, gathered outside Barchester Healthcare’s headquarters in London; calling on them to commit to paying their workers the real Living Wage amidst the deepening cost of living crisis.
Read more -
Carol's story: Meet the carers campaigning for a real Living Wage for Social Care
We asked Carol to share why she is joining the action, and why providing the real Living Wage for Social Care is so much.
Read more