Adult social care is facing a growing workforce crisis which is undermining the sustainability of the system and quality of care across the north of England, according to new analysis.
The think-tank IPPR found that chronic underfunding and endemic low pay has led to an escalating social care workforce crisis.
They have called for the Government to use their upcoming Green Paper on social care to introduce the real Living Wage for the sector, in order to address the growing workforce shortage.
This would mean a pay rise averaging over £1,000 for 160,000 workers in the north
Since 2010, government funding for local authorities has fallen by half. As a result, whilst demand for social care has been rising, spending on social care fell by 7% in Yorkshire and the Humber, 13% in the north west and a staggering 18% in the north east between 2009 and 2016. These cuts have led to social care being commissioned at rock-bottom prices. Local authorities in the north east pay just £14.15 per hour on average for homecare, well below the UK Homecare Association’s recommended minimum price of £18.01 per hour.
With chronic underfunding, and with local authorities commissioning care at undeliverably low costs, outsourced providers of social care have competed by minimising labour costs, resulting in endemic low pay.
Today, IPPR’s analysis shows that last year, 160,000 workers in social care across the north, were paid below the real Living Wage.
The sector alone accounts for 10% of workers paid below the real Living Wage in the north. In addition to low pay, the sector is characterised by widespread insecurity; 31% of care workers in the north are on zero hours contracts.
Given low pay and poor job quality in social care, the sector is struggling to recruit and retain the workers it needs to meet rapidly rising demand. There are currently 25,000 unfilled vacancies in social care in the north and 100,000 across England. IPPR analysis suggests that on current trends, by 2028, there will be 350,000 vacancies in social care across the country, or 400,000 if Government ends freedom of movement.
The growing workforce crisis is undermining quality of care and threatening the very sustainability of the system.
There is a desperate need for more funding for social care to fix the workforce crisis and to meet rapidly rising demand.
The report recommends that national insurance contributions should be increased by 1p in the pound to provide the social care sector with a long-term funding settlement.
But Government must also act to ensure that this benefits workers through
Immediately introducing the real Living Wage for all workers in social care.
This would represent a pay-rise averaging over £1,000 for 160,000 low paid social care workers in the north.
Government would need to provide £129 million in additional funding to local authorities in the north, which should be conditional on them negotiating with providers to ensure all care workers receive at least the real Living Wage.
Introducing Sectoral Collective Bargaining in social care, as happens in the NHS. This would involve establishing a sector council to bring together employers, trade unions, and Government to negotiate a minimum and legally binding set of pay and terms and conditions across the sector.
The additional funding the sector needs should be conditional on securing this sectoral agreement.
Joe Dromey, Senior Research Fellow at IPPR, said:
“The treatment of the social care workforce is a national scandal. They provide a vital public service to some of the most vulnerable members of our community. But they face endemic low pay and insecurity. This is not just bad for care workers; it is bad for the quality of care too, and it is undermining the sustainability of the whole system.
“We will only tackle the social care workforce crisis, and we will only improve quality of care if we improve pay and conditions in social care. Government should use the upcoming Green Paper to introduce the real Living Wage in social care. This would mean a much-deserved pay rise for 160,000 low-paid workers in social care in the north.”
