Third of social care workers find their salary to low to live on

Almost a third of social care workers nationally can no longer live on their salary according to a shock report. New polling lays bare the impact of the cost of living crisis on the sector with one in seven carers saying they cannot afford to eat at least one meal a day.

A YouGov survey of 1,000 carers revealed 29% report being no longer able to live on the money that they earn. Many earn around the minimum wage while our sister site the Mirror has launched the Fair Care for All campaign to demand they get proper pay and training. The damning findings show one in 12 carers have stopped driving due to fuel prices.

You can find a breakdown of the survey results for the North West at the bottom of this article.

Caroline Abrahams, director at Age UK said: “The cost of living crisis is having a terrible impact on social care, but one made much worse because it was already in a weak state after years of underfunding by central government. We owe so much to the care workers of this country who labour day in, day out to support millions of older and disabled people.

“Older people often tell us how grateful they are for the support they receive from care staff and how important they are – for many they are life savers. We should never have reached a position where care workers can no longer afford to eat or drive a car to see their clients.

“It is wrong that you can earn more working in a supermarket than providing vital care, and enjoy better terms, conditions and career opportunities in the NHS for doing the same job.”

The cost of living crisis is hitting those who rely on care as well with a quarter of cares reporting that patients have stopped turning the heating on. Some 23% of care workers have patients who cannot afford