With adult social care reform continuing in 2026, there is still a strong argument for the care industry to be viewed as an economic opportunity and not simply a demographic challenge, particularly because of the need for continued growth in the market.
Call me cynical but the opportunity for people to find work in the care sector is ever present in all areas of the UK and has been for some time, with many employers offering training and development opportunities to those who show commitment and willingness. It is not as simple as creating more jobs and expecting the issue to solve itself. So what is new?
When I first read the original Carers UK paper on “Growing the Care Market” back in 2012, I admittedly did so with a ‘tell me something I don’t know’ attitude towards the familiar statistics and information outlining our growing population, the rise in people requiring care and the lack of people to care for them.
But then I kept reading and was pleasantly surprised to find the paper a highly considered and forward-thinking vision of a future for the UK care market. More than a decade later, many of the same questions remain, although the sector now has a clearer national focus on skills, progression and professional recognition. The government’s Care Workforce Pathway for adult social care sets out a universal career structure for the workforce in England and forms part of wider plans to improve careers, training and conditions.
From the global perspective offered and the recognition of issues within the sector, to the constructive opportunities considered which could genuinely make a difference, the original paper certainly offered a solution worth discussing.
Let’s hope the wider message does not fall on deaf ears.
I won’t say much more on the subject, other than that the original argument is still worth revisiting, but I will finish with a couple of snippets from the 2012 paper which many in the sector will still recognise. The pay figure in the first quotation is historical and reflects the position at the time the paper was published:
Imagine, instead of the current situation in which certain care roles are seen as low skilled and low value – the average rate of pay for a careworker in England is £6.80 an hour – a workforce recognised for the contribution it makes to the maintenance of robust family, community and working life…
Imagine, instead of struggling to recruit into poorly paid and undervalued jobs, care businesses creating jobs that people want to do and careers they want to stay in.