Thousands of adult social care staff across England are being invited to take part in the sector's largest workforce survey, as the Government seeks fresh evidence to inform plans for a National Care Service and wider workforce reform
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said the third wave of the Adult Social Care Workforce Survey will seek responses from 7,000 workers across residential care, home care and disability support services, including agency staff, self-employed workers and those on zero-hours contracts.
The survey comes amid growing policy focus on workforce reform, following plans for an Adult Social Care Negotiating Body to oversee the first Fair Pay Agreement for the sector confirmed over the summer, while negotiations are due to begin next year and an initial settlement expected from 2028.
Ministers said the survey will provide insight into staff wellbeing, professional development, employment conditions, workplace culture and awareness of forthcoming reforms of the 1.5 million people working in adult social care in England.
Workforce concerns remain
Findings from the previous survey, published earlier this year, found that half of respondents rated their overall life satisfaction as high or very high, while two-thirds said they had opportunities to develop their knowledge and skills.
However, significant concerns remained around pay and financial security, with more than half (56 per cent) reporting they had little or no financial security, while nearly seven in ten (69 per cent) said the cost of living was too high and nearly half (49 per cent) believed their hourly rate of pay was too low.
Social care minister Alison McGovern said: "Care workers have been ignored for years. They are a workforce equal in size to the NHS but remaining among the lowest paid and unacceptably underappreciated.
"This survey will provide a crucial insight and shed a light on their working lives and experiences and identifying the issues that we have a responsibility to address."
Ms McGovern said the Government was committed to "going further and faster" on workforce reform through improved career progression and development, building on its proposed Fair Pay Agreement and the expansion of the Care Workforce Pathway.
The survey is taking place alongside Baroness Louise Casey's ongoing work on the future shape of adult social care, including her public consultation, dubbed the Big Conversation, which aims to gather 1 million views on future funding and delivery.
Skills for Care chief executive Oonagh Smyth said workforce voices must remain central to future reform plans.
"As the Government looks at how to strengthen the workforce through improvements to pay, training and support, it's essential that the experiences of people working in adult social care are part of the conversation," she said. "Every experience helps build a clearer picture of what's working well and where further action is needed."
The survey was first commissioned by DHSC in 2022 to Ipsos in collaboration with Skills for Care and the University of Kent. It is open to anyone working in adult social care in England and can be accessed via the Ipsos website or completed on the phone 0800 157 7794.
