Government data shows little improvement in anxiety and workplace stress across the adult social care workforce
More than two in five adult social care staff reported high levels of anxiety in a government survey carried out last year.
The survey of 3,008 staff, carried out by Ipsos in partnership with Skills for Care, the University of Kent and King’s College London for the Department of Health and Social Care between August and October 2025, used Office for National Statistics wellbeing questions covering ‘life satisfaction’, ‘happiness’, ‘worthwhileness’ and ‘anxiety’, alongside sector-specific ‘care work-related quality of life’ measures.
Overall wellbeing remained ‘mixed’ across these measures, although results show some improvement compared with the first wave conducted in 2023 following the Covid pandemic. Around half of respondents reported high levels of wellbeing in wave 2, compared to 41 per cent in 2023.
The survey also highlights the continued prevalence of negative workplace experiences across the adult social care workforce, with two in five members of the workforce (41 per cent) reporting that they experienced or witnessed physical violence from the people they care for, compared to around half of staff (49 per cent) in 2023,
Meanwhile 39 per cent reported experiencing or witnessing harassment, bullying or abuse in the previous 12 months, down only slightly from 46 per cent in the previous wave.
Staff who reported experiencing incidents of ‘physical violence, harassment, abuse and bullying’ were consistently more likely to report poorer ‘care work-related quality of life’ (CWRQoL) scores, including lower ratings for job satisfaction, general wellbeing and working conditions across both waves, according to the report.
Across employment conditions, the data shows only marginal improvement since the first wave. Scores for ‘learning and development’ increased slightly to around 3.3 out of 5 (from just over 3.2 in wave 1), while ratings for ‘employment terms and conditions’ rose to around 3.5 (from approximately 3.4).
Overall CWRQoL scores increased slightly, from around 3.2 out of 5 in wave 1 to around 3.3 in wave 2, the report shows, whole scores for job satisfaction and working conditions also rose marginally to around 3.5. But ‘stress at work’ remained one of the lowest‑rated areas at around 2.4, showing little improvement since 2023.
The report warns that comparisons should be treated with caution, as the 2023 survey was conducted during post-pandemic recovery and represents ‘an unusual benchmark'.
