In recognition of Women’s Pay Day and in the wake of Women’s History month, I’d like to take stock of where we are in terms of gender equity in social care. It’s important to recognise the gender pay gap that still exists for women working in paid roles, whilst also acknowledging the burden that falls on women, who shoulder most unpaid home and caring responsibilities. Through the lens of gender equity, we can better understand and tackle the social and economic challenges facing the care workforce. 23 April, 114 days into 2023, was the last Women’s Pay Day across sectors . Women’s Pay Day, or Equal Pay Day as it is also known, is the number of days the average woman works for free to equal the additional pay their male counterparts receive. This day changes based on profession and demographic. For the health and social care sector, “the gender pay gap is 14%, [and] the average woman works for free for 51 days until Monday 20 February 2023” .

Working in the social care sector, I’ve noticed we neglect to acknowledge that our workforce is composed of 82% women. Our overworked and underpaid care workforce affects more than one million women across the UK, and this workforce has been especially vulnerable to the cost-of-living crisis in the wider economy.

Throughout this particularly harsh winter, the British public experienced the heightened effects of the cost-of-living crisis . Gas and food prices have risen to unprecedented levels. Inflation continues to rise but salaries have not been able to keep up, especially in the health and care sectors.

The squeeze continues

One sector that is particularly hurting from the cost-of-living crisis is social care. The workforce is already in crisis due to staffing shortages, burnout rates, and lack of support for employees. Vacancy rates are up 52% in the past year in England . Also, the social care sector has failed to keep up with the rising wages of other sectors and continue to lose workers to higher paying jobs.

Beyond recruitment and retention issues, the cost-of-living crisis disproportionately affects the social care workforce because it is predominantly women working in the sector. The demographics are instructive. About half of the social care workforce is comprised of part-time or zero-contract hour employees. Part-time workers are more likely to live in poverty than full-time workers. Disabled people, which make up 24% of the social care workforce , are also overly burdened by the cost-of-living crisis.

Overall, much of the social care workforce is very near, at, or below the poverty line . Food insecurity for care workers and their families is a very real and current problem. The hardships faced by the workforce are only heightened by the cost-of-living crisis. We call on more robust data investigating the effects of the cost-of-living crisis on the social care workforce, particularly women carers, as we anticipate the repercussions, such as potentially lowering retention rates, to be significant.

Capturing evidence

It is important to consider the cost-of-living crisis that is disproportionately affecting the social care workforce as a matter of gender equity. With over one million women working in this sector, we should be capturing evidence about their experiences and how this affects their decisions to remain in, or leave, the workforce.

These are every day women and families who are doing the important jobs of caring for and supporting our loved ones and ourselves in times of need. We need to continue to fight to ensure they are well cared for, too.

Shared Lives care creates the best outcomes for people who need support and allows them to live the life they choose. At Shared Lives Plus we are committed to growing Shared Lives and transforming the adult social care landscape, allowing more people to access better-quality, person-centred care. Megan Lewis, who was in hospital for four years with mental ill-health has described the impact of Shared Lives on her life:

Being kept there [in hospital] when I was ready to move on became a hindrance. This pattern stopped when I found out about Shared Lives. I took the information to my consultant, used my voice, and told her: ‘This is what I want’. And that is what I got: an amazing Shared Lives home with a brilliant carer, Hayley, who encouraged me to speak up, express myself and stand up for what I believe in. My confidence increased massively. I’m pretty sure that without Shared Lives I’d have given up, and probably wouldn’t be here at all. Shared Lives really has saved my life.

Late last year, Shared Lives Plus published a guide to growing Shared Lives for local authorities. In it, we discussed two big barriers to growth – the lack of awareness and knowledge amongst social workers in Shared Lives, and the challenge of recruiting Shared Lives Carers.

Funded by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) – and in partnership with the Social Care Institute for Excellence – we have developed two online resources libraries to help local authorities tackle these two challenges.

To attract a high calibre of Shared Lives carers we’ve created a directory to support Shared Lives schemes with carer recruitment, this includes animations/videos, social media graphics and printed collateral. As well as this we’ve developed free training courses for social workers to better inform them about Shared Lives care and assist them to make good referrals to Shared Lives.

These two new directories are a huge step forward in relation to growing Shared Lives and we are now calling on leaders across adult social care to join us in developing a positive vision for the future and to commit to growing Shared Lives.

When talking with Lyn Romeo Chief Social Worker for Adults at the Department for Health and Social Care about the new resources for social workers, she said:

I am really pleased that Department of Health and Social care was able to support Shared Lives Plus – the national charity which supports Shared Lives – and the Social Care Institute for Excellence to develop these new Shared Lives resources for social workers. I am a huge supporter of Shared Lives – it delivers excellent support to people and enables people to live good lives in a loving family home. As a social worker, I know however, that we have a huge role to play in supporting Shared Lives to flourish, and that we need to encourage more referrals into Shared Lives. These new resources were designed to raise the awareness, knowledge, and skills of social workers of Shared Lives and support social care professionals to make good referrals and provide ongoing support.

Just over 3 years on from the first Covid-19 lockdown in the UK, care homes across England have shared their experiences of the pandemic, in order to inform future responses to crises. Over 200 people from 34 care homes shared insights into what support they received during the pandemic which they felt was valuable. These have been compiled into a new report ‘Rebuilding Together’. The report also explores what support care homes need right now, knowing that, for many, COVID-19 has not gone away; both in terms of infection and the long-term trauma it has left behind.

Individuals shared that, throughout the pandemic, teamwork, loyalty, resilience, commitment and connection to one another, were all critical for people living and working in care homes. When support was absent, particularly at the beginning of the pandemic, this led to people feeling alone and sometimes very scared. The contributing care home managers expressed a desire to be recognised, supported and appreciated (on par with NHS colleagues), and for guidance and policy to be clear, consistent and timely. They also identified a desire to sustain some of the positive changes experienced during the pandemic, for example greater knowledge of IT systems, infection control procedures and different forms of communication with families and community links.

These insights remind us of the commitment, care, courage and connections that exist in care homes. There is a vital need for care providers, the wider health and social care system and local communities to invest in the wellbeing of care teams, to actively engage in open conversations with people living and working in care homes and to explore what would help them now and into the future.

‘Rebuilding Together’ is authored by Oluwafunmilayo Vaughn, who has a research interest in frontline care staff, including developing and evaluating initiatives to improve wellbeing at work. She is an associate of My Home Life England, part of City, University of London. My Home Life England promotes quality of life and positive practice in care homes and other care settings.