Over the last year, the average care worker earns just £8.50 per hour to do one of the most difficult jobs in the country. Our care workers have been overworked and undervalued for too long. I supported the Future Social Care Coalition’s Pay Fair for Care Day of Action. The Government’s repeated failure to deliver a long- term plan for social care jeopardises the sector’s recovery after the pandemic.

Covid has exposed the crisis in social care yet again. There are more than 1.5 million people in the UK with unmet care needs and 112,000 vacancies in the sector. On top of this the sector is likely to see more staff departures this year, with one third currently considering a career move. We simply cannot afford to leave the social care unaddressed any longer. This starts with paying all our care workers a real living wage.

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