‘I literally work to pay bills’: A care worker’s struggle to make ends meet

Nearly half of all care workers in England are paid less than the living wage, according to research.

Analysis carried out by the Institute for Public Policy Research for the Living Wage Foundation found that 400,000 workers in social care are paid less than £12 an hour, the amount required to cover living costs.

We speak to one carer who is struggling to make ends meet.

Matt, 33, started working in social care during the pandemic, when he lost his job as a chef. “An ad popped up on my jobs app and I thought: ‘I have bills to pay.’” He had moved back with his parents after an earlier diagnosis of multiple sclerosis and a spinal condition, which had left him unable to work for a couple of years and in debt.

Matt became a domiciliary care worker, looking after paediatric and mental health patients in Newham, east London. But he was shocked at how badly remunerated it was.

“I noticed that for the work that all the carers like me had to do, the pay was quite insignificant,” he says. Matt generally worked a 45 hours a week, helping clients with daily tasks such as washing, getting dressed, eating and providing emotional support, for which he was paid £9.50 an hour. But he says his real pay was much less. “Because I was only paid for the half-hour visit and not any travel between clients, I’d be lucky to make £65 to £70 a day, despite working nine hours.

“When you take away the bills, the general living costs, I only had £150 to £200 to last all month. I was literally working to pay bills and not much else.”

When he found a company that offered the London living wage, £13.15, Matt leapt at the chance. “It enabled me to pay my bills and have money left over to enjoy life and actually do things I didn’t think I’d be able to,” he says. “I was able to move out and rent a room.”

Last year, he got a more senior role and is now a care coordinator at a different provider in east London, paid £24,000 a year. Matt feels he can finally plan his future and hopes to move in with his fiancee soon. But he is sad that so many colleagues consider quitting social care, because they can receive a lot more elsewhere.

“A carer showed me a job advert for Lidl, offering a guaranteed 45 hours a week shelf-stacking for £14 an hour. ​​This is a very good carer who is responsible for people’s health and wellbeing and they’re actually considering leaving the company to go do that job. That’s what we’re up against.”