Two thirds of a million care workers set for pay rise when new National Minimum Wage rises in April
Just under half of all care workers in England are paid less than the new National Living Wage of £12.71 - set to come into force in April - an analysis of the latest data has revealed.
This means that just under two thirds of a million (640,000) staff in post will be eligible for a pay rise when the mandatory new pay rates become live in just over a month’s time, according to the Skills for Care report, which adds that 90 per cent of independent care providers are paying at least some of their staff at lower rates.
Workers aged over 21 should be paid a minimum hourly rate of £12.71 from this April, while 18-20 year olds' hourly wages rise by 85p to £10.85.
Meanwhile, the report also reveals that staff with five or more years’ experience are paid just 10p more an hour on average than new entrants to the workforce.
Although the gap in hourly rate increased by 4p between March and December last year, the amount seasoned care workers can expect to earn has shrunk back from between 26p and 37p per hour more in 2017, according to the report.
Meanwhile it also revealed that the proportion of care workers earning 10p or less than the National Living Wage (£12.21) increased to over a quarter (26 per cent) of the workforce between March and December last year, having previously fallen in the five years since March 2020, when it was 34 per cent.
Care workers in the independent sector earn an average of 39p above the NLW as of data collected in December last year, according to the SfC report, which meant their hourly rate was up by 60p per hour compared to March.
The average care worker was better off, in real terms, by 26p per hour (2.1 per cent) than they were in March 2025, the report added.
Professor Martin Green OBE, chief executive of Care England warned the data showed that “long-term underfunding” in the sector meant that employers are prevented from “rewarding experience”.
“When experienced staff are earning just 10p more than someone brand new to the role, something is not working properly.
“Providers want to reward experience. They want to build proper progression into the system. But if the funding they receive only stretches to the minimum wage, there is nowhere else to go.
“That is not a failure of goodwill. It is a consequence of long-term underfunding,” he added.
Vic Rayner OBE, chief executive of the National Care Forum, which represents non-profit care providers, said the findings showed that care workers received their lowest average percentage pay rise in six years, and called for “urgent action” to combat an “unsustainable” pay picture for staff in the sector.
She added that the government’s Fair Pay Agreement plans - set to come into force in 2028 as part of the Employment Rights Bill – offers a “significant opportunity” for a “consistent, fair, and transparent pay framework”.
