Social care 360: workforce and carers

7. Vacancies

Vacancies have fallen due to an increase in overseas staff  

Why is this important?

The vacancy rate is an important indicator of providers’ capacity to deliver social care services. Staffing also affects quality: higher staff-to-bed ratios in care homes correlate with higher Care Quality Commission ratings. In an open jobs market, it is also an indicator of the relative attractiveness of social care as a career compared to other sectors.    

What was the annual change?

Between 2022/23 and 2023/24, the vacancy rate fell from 9.9% to 8.3% and the number of vacancies fell from 152,000 to 131,000. There was a continued gap between the vacancy rate in adult social care, the wider unemployment rate (4.1%), and the vacancy rate in the wider economy (2.8%).  

In the independent sector of for-profit and not-for-profit organisations (which make up most of the employment in social care), the vacancy rate was 8.1%. At 11%, the vacancy rate was higher for personal assistants (who are employed directly by people using social care services). In the local authority sector it was 7.2%.    

The vacancy rate was lowest in the North East (6.3%) and highest in London (10.5%).   

There was variation between roles, with higher vacancies in domiciliary care (11.5%) than in residential care (5.2%), and higher vacancies for regulated professionals (9.1%), care workers (9.9%) and personal assistants (11.0%), but lower vacancy rates for managerial and supervisory roles (3.7%).  

What is the long-term trend?

At 8.1%, the vacancy rate in the independent sector of adult social care was still the third highest it has been since Skills for Care began collecting data in 2012/13. 

What explains that trend?

The fall in the vacancy rate, from the historic high in 2021/22, has been driven by a sharp increase in the number of overseas staff recruited to work in adult social care. Between March 2022 and March 2024, around 185,000 people started direct care roles after arriving in the UK from abroad. The increase happened because changes to government immigration policy in February 2022 enabled overseas care workers to take up care worker roles in the UK providing they had a licensed sponsor and the role had a salary of at least £20,480.  

However, the number of UK domestic workers fell by 70,000 over this period, and pay remains a significant factor in domestic recruitment. Although pay for care workers has increased in real terms year on year since 2014 (see indicator 8, pay), the rate of increase has failed to keep pace with some other sectors. As a result, people can now earn as much working as sales and retail assistants, while in similar roles in the NHS they can earn more.    

 The vacancy rate in social care continues to be much higher than the overall unemployment rate and it appears that as unemployment falls, social care vacancies rise. This suggests that for many people other work is more attractive than social care. Vacancy rates in adult social care are higher than in the NHS (6.9%) and much higher than in other areas of the economy, such as retail (2.4%), education (2.3%) and manufacturing (2.5%).   

However, pay is not the only factor in recruitment. Employees also value wider terms and conditions, good working conditions, especially flexibility, and a positive culture and leadership.    

What has happened in 2023/24?

Monthly tracking data from Skills for Care, while less comprehensive, suggests that the vacancy rate in adult social care has fallen still further. In August 2024, it had fallen to 7.1%. The latest data is here.   

However, changes to visa regulation in December 2023, and to application of the regulations, have significantly reduced the number of overseas staff coming to work in adult social care. Only 8,000 arrived in April–June 2024 compared to an average of 26,000 per quarter in 2023/24.   

In June 2024, a new Labour government was elected on a manifesto that included plans to introduce a ‘fair pay agreement’ for workers in adult social care. A draft bill was published in October 2024 which allows the creation of an adult social care negotiating body, overseen by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. However a period of consultation is expected, with an agreement unlikely to be in place until 2026 at the earliest.   

8. Pay

Careworker pay is increasing but is still low compared to other jobs in the economy  

Why is this an important indicator?

Care workers make up around 905,000 of the 1.7 million filled posts in the social care sector. Pay in the independent sector (ie, not including local authorities), which employs 4 in every 5 staff, is a key factor in the sector’s ability to recruit enough staff to meet demand. It also makes up a large proportion of provider costs, particularly in home care. Levels of pay also correlate with Care Quality Commission quality ratings.  

What was the annual change?

Median care worker pay in the independent sector in March 2024 was £11.00 an hour. Skills for Care, the industry workforce body, says this represents an increase of 5.4% in real terms since 2022/23.   

Mean care worker pay in the independent sector was £11.23 an hour in 2023/24. This is slightly better than support and outreach workers pay, £11.11 an hour. Senior care workers earned £12.04 an hour, while personal assistants, who are employed directly by people drawing on care services, averaged £11.87.  

Care workers employed by local authorities had a mean hourly rate of £12.43 in 2023/34.  

What is the long-term trend?

Since 2015/16, median care worker pay has increased by 17% in real terms. However, pay in other sectors has been increasing more quickly. In 2012/13, care workers were paid more than retail sales assistants but in 2023/24 they were paid the same. Many care workers would be paid more in entry-level posts in supermarkets. In 2023/24, average care workers pay was 67p per hour less than newly employed health care assistants in the NHS, though 9p higher than cleaners and 40p higher than kitchen and catering assistants.  

What explains that trend?

Care worker pay has grown since 2015/16, driven by the introduction of the National Living Wage, which has risen faster than inflation. Care worker pay and the statutory minimum wage have kept close company; according to Skills for Care, between March 2016 and March 2024, the median hourly rate for care workers increased on average by 46p a year, while the National Living Wage increased by 47p a year.   

 However, other sectors have proven more able to remunerate their lower-paid staff than social care. And while care worker pay has increased, there has been a negative effect on the pay progression of more experienced care workers. Those with several years’ experience earn just 10p more an hour on average (mean) than those with less than one year’s experience, down from 33p more an hour in 2016.  

What has happened in 2023/24?

On 1 April 2024, the National Living Wage increased to £11.44, the largest increase since its introduction in April 2016. Skills for Care estimated that over two thirds (69%) of care workers – around 605,000 people – were being paid less than this figure and would have been entitled to a pay rise.   

In April 2025 it will rise 6.7% to £12.21.     

In the Autumn Budget 2024, the government increased the rate of employers’ national insurance contributions by 1.2 percentage points. It was estimated that the cost to social care providers would total over £900 million.    

9. Unpaid carers

Fewer carers now receive direct support

Why is this indicator important?

Unpaid carers – usually, but not always, family members – contribute the equivalent of four million paid care workers to the social care system. Without them, the system would collapse.

What was the annual change?

The number of carers receiving direct support – including paid support such as direct payments, services, and information and advice – fell from 314,000 in 2021/22 to 295,000 in 2022/23. The number of people provided with respite care (which is provided to support unpaid carers) rose to 36,000 from 33,000 in 2021/22.

What is the longer-term trend?

The number of carers receiving direct support from local authorities was lower in 2022/23 than it was in 2015/16. There has also been a shift in the type of support they receive. Fewer carers (27% compared to 31% in 2015/16) now receive paid support and more receive advice, information and signposting (56% compared to 50% in 2015/16).

The number of people provided with respite care delivered to support their carers fell from 57,000 in 2015/16 to 36,000 in 2022/23.

What explains this?

The long-term fall in support for carers can be explained, at least in part, by pressure on local authority budgets, which has also impacted the number of people receiving long-term care (see indicator 2, receipt of social care).

A further possibility is that the number of family carers has fallen. The 2021 census estimated the proportion of people in England providing unpaid care fell from 11.3% in 2011 to 8.9% in 2021, and the number had fallen from 5.4 million to 4.7 million. However, this finding may have been affected by a change in the survey question and the impact of Covid-19 on caring behaviour. The proportion of people providing more than 50 hours of unpaid care a week increased, in fact, meaning that an estimated 1.4 million people in England provide this amount of care. Other data does not necessarily support the fall identified in the UK census: the total number of people claiming Carer’s Allowance has increased since 2016, from 1.2 million in in February 2016 to 1.4 million in February 2023.

What has happened in 2023/24?

In December 2021, the government’s social care White Paper had promised up to £25 million to ‘kickstart’ a change in the services provided to support unpaid carers. In November 2023, this support was incorporated into an Accelerating Reform Fund of £42.6 million over two years for local authorities and integrated care systems. Consortia of local authorities and their partners bidding for the fund were required to have at least one project supporting unpaid carers.