While the height of the pandemic has hopefully passed, the endemic issue of low pay in social care remains a critical issue. With that in mind, September is a month where we’ll be joining nearly 30 other organisations in social care as part of the #BetterPay4SocialCare campaign, shining a light on the value of the social care workforce and calling on the government to ‘level up’ pay. 

Our Chief Executive, Lisa Hopkins, shares her frustrations:

“A recent report found that on average, many support workers would be paid 40% more in equivalent roles in other publicly funded sectors, for equivalent skills. 

"That’s a £7000 pay gap between skilled support staff and their better paid publicly funded peers.  The report came as no surprise, but those figures are stark.

"For years now, most conversations with local council commissioners (themselves restricted by central government funding) are set at the expectation that we’ll do more for less, and that skilled support staff will be benchmarked at the minimum wage. This wouldn’t do for any other public service, but why does it do for social care?

"It is utterly demoralising that England is the only country in the UK to not even offer a ‘one off’ payment to frontline social care staff in recognition of the sacrifices of the pandemic. It really is time to ‘pay some respect’ and pay people what they are worth and I do think the vast majority of public would share that sentiment too."

So between September 6th and 10th, please consider supporting the Better Pay 4 Social Care campaign – you can post pictures of yourself in support, post them on social media, write to your MP and importantly sign the BetterPay4SocialCare petition led by careworker Beth, who will deliver it to the steps of the Treasury later this month. 

With the many millions of people that draw on social care support for the lives they want to lead, and over 1.5 million people working in social care, there are now so many people affected personally in some way by social care – what it does and what it has the potential to do. If it only had the investment and funding it needed. 

Reward and recognition is what is needed from government – not more rhetoric!

Learn more about the BetterPay4SocialCare petition and help get it to the doors of the Treasury with thousands more signatures.