The Social Care Sector is facing a staffing crisis.
James Sage, employment lawyer and Head of Health & Social Care at Royds Withy King said: “The Government plans to severely restrict access to care staff from the EEA after Brexit, despite the current staffing crisis engulfing the care sector. There are no special rules for the care sector despite it being particularly reliant on European staff. To exacerbate the problem, the Government has failed to adopt a coherent strategy to address staff shortages by other means.
“The study indicates that the sector has increased staff wages by up to 10% over the past five years and given that wages typically account for between 65-80% of a care providers running costs, this represents a significant increase in running costs. More significant future wage increases are unviable unless councils increase fee rates paid to providers.”
Key findings from the Social Care Workforce Study:
- The social care sector currently employs 1.47 million people.
- 23%, or 305,000, are currently aged over 55.
- One in three workers leave the sector every year – the highest staff turnover rate of all sectors in the UK.
- Average pay for a care assistant is £350 a week, £200 a week lower than the UK all jobs average.
- 33% of all nurses and 16% of care assistants are foreign nationals.
- In London, 65% of care assistants and 84% of nurses are foreign nationals.
- Recruitment of new to the sector care staff slowed to just 20,000 a year in 2016, down from 65,000 in 2010.
- 80% of the workforce is female.
