“We don't do it for the money” … The scale and reasons of poverty?pay among frontline long?term care workers in England

Hussein, Shereen (2017) “We don't do it for the money” … The scale and reasons of poverty?pay among frontline long?term care workers in England. Health and Social Care in the Community, 25 (6). pp. 1817-1826. ISSN 0966-0410. (doi:10.1111/hsc.12455)

Abstract

Demographic trends escalate the demands for formal long- term care (LTC) in the majority of the developed world. The LTC workforce is characterised by its very low wages, the actual scale of which is less well known. This article investigates the scale of poverty-pay in the feminised LTC sector and attempts to understand the perceived reasons behind persisting low wages in the sector. The analysis makes use of large national workforce pay data and a longitudinal survey of care workers, as well as interviews with key stakeholders in the sector. The analysis suggests that there are at least between 10 and 13% of care workers who are effectively being paid under the National Minimum Wage in England. Thematic qualitative analysis of 300 interviews with employers, care workers and service users highlight three key explanatory factors of low pay: the intrinsic nature of LTC work, the value of caring for older people, and marketisation and outsourcing of services.

Item Type:	Article
DOI/Identification number:	10.1111/hsc.12455
Additional information:	Unmapped bibliographic data: M3 - Article [Field not mapped to EPrints] JO - Health and Social Care in the Community [Field not mapped to EPrints]
Uncontrolled keywords:	hierarchical Bayesian models, in-work poverty, mixed methodologies, social care workforce, wages
Subjects:	H Social Sciences
Divisions:	Faculties > Social Sciences > School of Social Policy Sociology and Social Research Faculties > Social Sciences > School of Social Policy Sociology and Social Research > Personal Social Services Research Unit
Depositing User:	Shereen Hussein
Date Deposited:	13 Nov 2018 11:49 UTC
Last Modified:	29 May 2019 20:54 UTC
Resource URI:	https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/68299 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)
Hussein, Shereen:	https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7946-0717