The English social care workforce: the vexed question of low wages and stress

Over the past decades the English adult social care system has seen a set of policy reforms

combined with funding cuts and austerity measures. This chapter utilizes secondary and

primary data sources to investigate the current state of the English social care workforce with

a particular focus on the increasing role of migrants; persistent low wages and job related

stress. The findings highlight the continued role of migrants in the sector with a clear shift in

their profile that is consistent with the direction of the UK immigration policies. From 2013

migrants joining the care sector from Bulgaria and Romania alone have exceeded all other

migrants entering the sector. The analysis indicates the persistent low wages in the sector,

which are facilitated by a number of factors including austerity measures and the increasing

role of the private sector and outsourcing of services. The nature of care work combined with

difficult working conditions created various situations where individual workers felt a

considerable level of stress. The latter is likely to impact not only on workers’ ability to

complete their work to the highest quality but also has a potential negative impact on their

own well-being and increases the likelihood of job quitting.