Half of care workers employed in independent care homes would earn more if they took an entry level job in a supermarket, according to new research into a staffing crisis that has left thousands of vulnerable people suffering inadequate care.
In June nearly 400,000 care staff earned less than the minimum wages paid in most of the major supermarket chains, while a third of workers would have received an immediate 6.3% pay increase, plus staff benefits, by moving to the best-paying supermarkets, according to the research by the King’s Fund health thinktank.
There are about 165,000 vacancies in England’s social care workforce and this week the Guardian revealed that inspectors found staff shortages were a key reason for inadequate care at dozens of homes, including people being left in their rooms 24 hours a day, denied showers and left soaking in their own urine. Many operators rely on funding from local authorities which has not increased in line with inflation and so have not been able to increase wages. Staff suffering burnout after the Covid-19 pandemic swept through care homes have also quit to take less stressful, better paid jobs at places such as Amazon, and in hospitality and supermarkets.
MPs taking evidence into the crisis this summer heard of care home managers saying: “I dread hearing Aldi opening up nearby, as I know I will lose staff.”
The government announced a taskforce this month to consider the recruitment of international staff into critical roles, although no final decisions have been made on the scale of any recruitment drive or indeed whether to proceed.
“Pay is a key reason for the social care workforce crisis,” said Simon Bottery, senior fellow for social care at the King’s Fund. “There has been no progress on delivering … a strategy [on pay progression and professional development] in adult social care and no sign that the government is seriously interested in developing one. The government’s impact statement on its adult social care reform programme has a whole chapter on the workforce that manages to avoid even once using the word ‘pay’.”
He said: “For the foreseeable future, the opening of a new Aldi is set to be good news for local shoppers but bad news for the local social care sector and for the people who use its services.”
For social care, the minimum rate for staff over the age of 23 in June 2022 was £9.50 – the statutory minimum set by the “national living wage”. It has been estimated that about 50% of care workers earn within 30 pence of the national living wage level. In June 2022 nine of the 10 largest supermarkets were paying more than this, the King’s Fund research found.
It represents a reversal over the last decade. In 2012-13 retail assistants were on average paid 16p an hour less than care workers. But by 2020-21 they were being paid 21p an hour more.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “We value the huge contribution to society which care workers make day in, day out. This is why we are providing at least £500m to workforce development, training and wellbeing. This is part of an additional £5.4bn investment into adult social via the health and care levy which will allow us to continue a comprehensive programme of reform. Local authorities work with private care providers to determine fee rates, which should take account of wage costs, based on local market conditions. April’s increase in the national living wage means a full-time care worker on the NLW will see their annual earnings rise by over £1,000 this year.”
