Alarm over ‘unacceptable’ pay levels for adult social care workers in England

Pay for adult social care workers in England has been dubbed ‘unacceptable’ and ‘underfunded’ as new data shows a growing number of staff are working on or just above the National Living Wage (NLW).

The government has been urged to improve wages within the sector as a ‘top priority’ and follow through on its promise of a ‘Fair Pay Agreement’.

Skills for Care has today published a new report examining current levels of pay and trends within adult social care in England, drawing on latest available data from December 2025.

It found that the median hourly rate for a care worker in the independent sector was £12.60, only 39p above the NLW.

Meanwhile, 26% of care workers were on the wage floor – those on or within 10p of the NLW of £12.21.

Just under half (48%) of independent sector workers, including (55%) of care workers, were paid less than the incoming mandatory NLW rate of £12.71, the report suggested.

A consultation to create a negotiating pay body for adult social care, as part of the Fair Pay Agreement which will be introduced under the Employment Rights Act 2025, ended last month.

Through the Fair Pay Agreement, the government has said previously that it aims to tackle low pay, improve working conditions, and make jobs more secure in the care sector by setting minimum standards for pay and working conditions for people working in adult social care, which will be legally binding. It is expected to come into effect from April 2028.

Public bodies are urging the government to ensure the agreement ‘has teeth’ ahead of an agreement being reached.

Amber Jabbal, director of policy for The Royal College of Nursing (RCN), said nursing staff and those in social care are a ‘vital part of our health system’.

‘It’s unacceptable that so many are forced to accept pay that pushes them into poverty and leaves them unable to afford food or using welfare payments to top up their salaries,’ she said.

‘Improving wages and workplace rights in social care are crucial to bolstering the sector’s workforce and easing pressure on the NHS.

‘But desperately needed reforms have been continually kicked down the road. Nursing staff and those in care do not have years to wait and need to see action now.’

She added: ‘The Fair Pay Agreement introduced as part of the Employment Rights Act is a much needed first step, and improving pay in the sector should be a top priority for the new negotiating body.

‘It must be implemented without delay and have real teeth, increasing pay for these essential staff that are critical for the safety of vulnerable patients and the survival of our health and care system.’

The report also showed experienced care workers, those with five or more years in the sector, are paid just 10p more on average than care workers who are new to the sector, an increase from 6p in March 2025.

Professor Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, added that it’s ‘a danger’ to look at the latest statistics as numbers as opposed to people.

‘We are talking about carers who support someone to get out of bed in the morning, who manage complex medication, who sit with families in the hardest moments of their lives,’ he said.

‘When experienced staff are earning just 10p more than someone brand new to the role, something is not working properly. Providers want to reward experience. They want to build proper progression into the system.

‘But if the funding they receive only stretches to the minimum wage, there is nowhere else to go. That is not a failure of goodwill. It is a consequence of long-term underfunding.’

He added that the Fair Pay Agreement has to ‘result in genuine improvement’ to ‘mean something’.

‘If the Fair Pay Agreement is going to mean something, it has to result in a genuine improvement in what care workers actually receive,’ he said.

‘Otherwise we risk telling them they are valued, while leaving their day-to-day reality largely unchanged.’

The Department of Health and Social Care has been asked to comment.