Paying carers £15 an hour would boost the economy by £7.7billion, research shows today.
Nine out of 10 care workers earn less than £15 an hour and many are paid less than the Real Living Wage rate of £10.90, according to the Trades Union Congress.
Lifting their pay would help fill the estimated 165,000 vacancies in the sector, bolstering social care and easing pressure on the NHS, according to analysts.
A TUC study says a £15 minimum wage would mean an annual full-time salary of at least £29,250, pay rises for 541,700 care workers across England and a salary hike for women, who make up 79% of care workers, and ethnic minority workers who account for 31% of the workforce - helping to cut gender and race pay gaps.
TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said a £15 per hour minimum wage would “reduce staff turnover and help fill the thousands of vacancies in care services”.
He added: “There’s another upside - our research shows that raising social care wages to £15 per hour will have wider economic benefits where care workers live and work.
“When they spend their higher wages, local businesses will get a boost, and that will support job creation and higher wages for other workers too.”
Carers often work for companies which are paid by local authorities - funded by council tax and central government.
But the amount of money town halls get from Whitehall has been slashed in recent years, leaving councils struggling with budgets.
Tens of thousands of carers are paid the legal minimum wage of £10.42 if they are aged 23 and over; £10.18 for those aged 21 and 22; or £7.49 for 18-20 year olds - fuelling an estimated 165,000 social care vacancies.
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A senior Labour MP this month(MAY) said social care staff are the “lowest paid workers in this country”.
The Mirror told last week how voters overwhelmingly back giving social carers the same pay as NHS staff.
Some 80% of people polled believe the crisis-hit sector is as important or should get the same respect as the health service, according to a Censuswide study of 2,001 people for not-for-profit care provider Dimensions.
A change.org petition calls on the Government to introduce NHS pay bands for carers - giving them a wallet boost.
Raising their wages to £15 an hour would be worth £1.1billion in the North West; £803million in the East Midlands and £422m in the North East, according to the TUC.
It said that while the move, which it wanted the Treasury to pay for, would cost £5.9billion - but the Treasury would benefit from bigger tax returns and cutting the in-work benefits bill.
Mr Nowak said: “Most families need social care services at some point, and we all want to know our loved ones will receive a high standard of care.
“But that’s only possible if social care jobs are paid well enough to attract and retain the right people.
“We’re calling for a £15 per hour minimum wage across the adult social care sector.
“This will reduce staff turnover and help fill the thousands of vacancies in care services.”
Living Wage Foundation director Katherine Chapman said: "It’s simply not right that more than half of care workers, the people who support the most vulnerable in our society, earn below the Real Living Wage.
“We all need the security of knowing that no matter what happens in our lives there will be someone there to look after us, just like we all need the security of being paid a wage that covers our everyday needs.
"Today's research shows that increasing care sector pay would boost the quality of carers’ lives, reduce acute staff shortages in the sector and benefit the economy at large.
“It’s heartening that hundreds of care providers have already signed up to pay at least the Real Living Wage to all their staff but more support is needed.
“Adequate funding needs to be provided within the system to ensure that care workers earn at least a Real Living Wage."
In November, the Government said an extra £2.8billion would be available for adult social care next year and £4.7bn the following year.
The Mirror is campaigning for Fair Care for All.
Regional breakdown
The TUC said regions would benefit from hundreds of millions of pounds in "gross value added":
East Midlands - £802
North East - £421m
North West - £1.1bn
South West - £821m
Yorkshire and The Humber - £786m
West Midlands - £849m
East of England - £844m
London - £849m
South East - £1.2bn
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