Page 24 - Unfair To Care 2024 - Who Cares Wins

SECTION 5: THE RESULTS – 2023/24
UNDERSTANDING THE PAY GAP
THE GAP BETWEEN SOCIAL CARE WORKERS AND THEIR NHS COUNTERPARTS IS VAST AND WIDELY MISUNDERSTOOD.
Data from the National Care Forum’s national pay benchmarking exercise of the not-for-profit sector (October 2023), shows that the average social care worker outside of London earned £10.93 an hour. Unlike the NHS, the social care sector does not have a standardised pay framework that recognises progression and accomplishment within the role. In fact, social care funding is so compressed that, on average, a colleague with five or more years of experience is paid only 7p more per hour than a new starter23.
When simply reviewing the gap between the basic hourly wage of an NHS worker at the midpoint of the NHS Band 3 grade, there is a 10.3% gap in basic pay.
* Data from the National Care Forum’s national pay benchmarking exercise of the not-for-profit sector (October 2023)
2023/24
Care and support worker average pay*
NHS Staff Band 3 midpoint
Pay gap
Average hourly pay
£10.93
£12.06
+£1.13
+10.3%
Average salary
£21,372
£23,576
+£2,204
+10.3%
However, crucially, comparing baseline rates of pay alone fails to account for the fact that NHS employees can access enhanced pay that is significantly above standard hourly rates. NHS ‘Total Pay’ includes benefits for working unsocial hours, night shifts, weekends, and bank holidays. Working these unsociable hours is a common feature for many social care workers, yet rarely attracts any increase in take-home pay.
OUR ANALYSIS DEMONSTRATES THAT THE AVERAGE TAKE-HOME ‘TOTAL PAY’ SALARY OF EQUIVALENT NHS BAND 3 STAFF IS IN FACT
36% HIGHER
THAN THAT OF THE AVERAGE SALARY OF FRONTLINE CARE AND SUPPORT STAFF.
WHEN JUST A TYPICAL AMOUNT OF THIS BENEFIT IS FACTORED INTO THE PAY COMPARISON, THE REAL DISPARITY BETWEEN THE TWO COMPARABLE ROLES IS MADE MUCH CLEARER.
2023/24
Care and support worker average pay*
Average total take home-pay for NHS Band 3 workers (inclusive of entitlements for unsocial hours etc)
Gap in care and support staff pay compared to NHS Band 3 average take-home pay
Average hourly pay
£10.93
£14.83
+£3.90
+35.6%
Average salary
£21,372
£28,989
+£7,617
+35.6%
* Data from the National Care Forum’s national pay benchmarking exercise of the not-for-profit sector (October 2023)
23. ‘The state of the adult social care sector and workforce report’, Skills for Care, October 2023
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