Labour launches review on exploitation in the care sector

• 150,000-220,000 care workers are paid less than the National Minimum Wage
• 300,000 care workers are on zero-hours contracts (out of 700,000 working in the sector)
• Staff are often not paid for travelling between (increasingly short) appointments – which exacerbates the problems of low pay and zero hours contracts

For an idea of what it’s like to be a Social Care worker on a zero-hours contract, take a look at this piece from “Caroline” which we published earlier this year. The situation is so bad that she explained:

“My mum had a stroke and with the help of her local in house cares we managed to keep her in her own home. It pains me to say if she was alive today I would give up homecare to look after her as I know she would not receive the care she and all service users should have.”

Understandably then, the review has received a warm welcome from those representing Social Care workers, with Unison’s Head of Policy Sampson Low telling us this morning:

“Ed Miliband has a hit a home run with this review. It resonates with the public experience in villages, towns and cities across the UK. Care workers love their jobs but too often are short changed by poor employment practises.”

Hopefully when the Kingsmill Review lands on Ed Miliband’s desk, it contains a plan for ending zero hours contracts and ultra-low wages in the Social Care sector, to find a way of both improving care and the lives of those who work in it.