Poll: 8 in 10 people back a pay increase for care workers

Public polling by Survation, commissioned by Citizens UK, reveals 82% of the public back Government investment in social care to fund a pay rise for care workers. [1]

The polling found high levels of public support for key workers such as cleaners, couriers, and care workers being paid a real Living Wage. This comes as the real Living Wage increased to £10.85 p/h in London, and £9.50 p/h across the UK, increasing over 250,000 people's wages.

Over 800 employers have joined the #LivingWage movement since the start of the pandemic and are now #LivingWage accredited! 🎉 And this year alone nearly £200 million of those extra wages have gone to low-paid workers 💪🏼🙌🏼 Link in bio for more #LivingWageWeek2020 #LivingWageWeek

A post shared by Citizens UK (@citizens.uk) on Nov 9, 2020 at 8:21am PST

People over 65 felt most strongly that key workers, including care workers, should receive the real Living Wage instead of the Government minimum – which is £8.72.

A new analysis of Skills for Care Data for the Living Wage Foundation found huge levels of low pay across the social care sector in England right before the pandemic hit [2]  – with almost every social care job in low-paying areas like Havering, Bexley and Redcar and Cleveland being paid under the real Living Wage during 2019/20.

In 20 of the 32 London boroughs, 9 in 10 care workers were receiving below the London Living Wage.

Across England, 604,168 of 832,393 care worker roles (73%) were paid less than the independently calculated rate, set by the Living Wage Foundation.

Edel K, a care worker and member of Citizens Cymru Wales said:

“We are in the eye of the storm with this pandemic, yet we are paid less than equivalent roles in the NHS. Incredibly 3 in 4 care workers are paid below the Living Wage.

People don't want to stay in locked in poverty and because of this social care is facing a recruitment crisis. Boris Johnson, who as Mayor was a past champion of the London Living Wage can fix this.

He and his Government can boost investment and ensure the sector can give staff a much needed payrise."

Sam Monaghan , CEO of MHA, the UKs largest Charity Care provider said:

“I am keen to support all who work in care being paid the real Living Wage as a minimum. At MHA we’ve paid our colleagues this for some time now.

It not only more appropriately values their skills, abilities and experience, but also translates to a sense of pride and belonging. We also cannot ignore the contribution of those in care throughout this pandemic, they have long-deserved proper investment both in pay and workforce development.

That’s why we support the Citizens UK campaign to pay all care workers a real Living Wage. They are worth more than a clap and are certainly #WorthTheMoney. ”

Want to get involved? Share your care story and tag us #WorthTheMoney on Twitter , Facebook and Instagram Sign our petition to get care workers a real Living Wage Write to your MP now and ask them if care workers are #WorthTheMoney

[1] Survation polled 2,300 people aged 18+ living in the UK. Fieldwork was conducted via online panel on 8-12 October 2020. Data tables can be found here: https://cdn.survation.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/14111955/Citizens-UK-October-2020.xlsx

[2] New data on care worker roles paid below the Living Wage was provided by Skills for Care to the Living Wage Foundation, based on Skills for Care’s administrative workforce dataset. This covers those at the ‘care worker’ grade only. These numbers include all adult social care workers in the independent sector who deliver on public sector contracts – paid for by the local authority – as well are those employed to deliver self-funded/private care. These care workers can be working for private companies or third sector organisations – both are classed as the independent sector.