Investigating variation in pay in adult social care
What are we trying to do?
This study will explore variations in pay for adult social care workers, who deliver care to vulnerable people in their own homes, residential/nursing care homes or supported accommodation in England. We will explore how local conditions, such as deprivation, and local authority processes for buying care, affect pay variations. Finally, we will investigate how pay variations affect workers, for example, leaving their jobs or developing skills.
Why is this important?
This research is important because care worker pay is low, and this has a negative impact on recruiting workers and keeping them in their jobs. There are often staffing shortages and this negatively affects the care of those in need and the families/friends who support them. For example, care visits may be short or missed, and there might be many different people delivering care to the same person, which is undesirable. Improving pay, the experiences of care workers, and making sure that care delivered is of high quality is very important.
How are we doing it?
This research has three parts:
- The first part, led by Dr Akbar Ullah, Research Fellow at the University of Manchester and a member of the Organising Care Theme within ARC-GM, utilises statistics provided by Skills for Care to investigate the factors affecting pay variations, including local authorities' fee levels and contracting practices, as well as the effect of pay on workers' outcomes such as skills and retention.
- The second part, led by Professor Carol Woodhams from the University of Surrey, is a survey of organisations that provide adult social care which explores their pay practices and identifies good practice.
- The final part, led by Dr Gail Hebson from Manchester Metropolitan University, involves interviews with managers of care organisations and with care workers themselves to explore their views on pay variations and the consequences for care workers, care recipients and their families.
Public and Community Involvement and Engagement (PCIE) for this project is led by Dr Will Whittaker, Senior Lecturer at The University of Manchester and Deputy Lead of the Organising Care Theme in ARC-GM. We will work closely with a local authority commissioner, managers of care organisations and the lead and a representative of the ARC-GM Public and Community Involvement and Engagement (PCIE) Panel to develop the questions and design our project.
Who are we working with?
This study is being led by Professor Carol Atkinson at Manchester Metropolitan University, with support from University of Manchester and University of Surrey.
Throughout the study, we will work with:
- A PCIE group that represents the views of carers, care workers and care recipients/their friends/families.
- A Project Steering Group involving the Department of Health and Social Care, local authorities, care managers and PCIE representatives. This will ensure that our results have wide uptake by both policy makers and those working in the sector.
Funding information
This research study is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), Policy Research Programme The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Policy Research Programme.
More information:
Programme Manager
Dr Ross Atkinson