TUC urges UK Government to find ‘fairer way’ to fund social care

The TUC has called on the UK Government to tax wealth instead of hiking worker and business NI contributions to provide long-term funding for social care; and raise care worker pay to at least £10 an hour. 

The TUC’s latest report argues that raising Capital Gains Tax is a much fairer way to fund social care than hiking workers’ and businesses’ national insurance contributions. It is also calling for an end to wealth and assets being taxed at a lower rate than working people’s hard-earned incomes.  The union body said that is “plain wrong” that under current tax arrangements a low-paid social care worker can pay a bigger share of their income to fund the social care system than the private equity magnate who profits from asset-stripping care homes to sell on.  

A FAIRER WAY

“Our dedicated care workers have risked their lives to care for our loved ones during the pandemic. Now it is time we cared for them,” remarked TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady. “Every care worker in Britain should be paid a wage they can live on. And that means at least £10 per hour. Any plan to fix social care funding must also fix pay for workers in the sector.  And working people shouldn’t bear the burden of funding social care alone. The prime minister should be asking those who make a fortune from their property and assets to pay a fairer share of tax.”  

“It is plain wrong that the government’s social care plans will see a low-paid social care worker paying extra to fund the social care system; while the private equity magnate who profits from asset-stripping care homes to sell on sees no change. It’s time to raise taxes on wealth to fund social care properly, and guarantee decent pay for all social care workers,” O’Grady added.

The new report published by the UK’s trade union body said that increasing tax on wealth and assets would provide a much-needed cash injection for the care sector.  It cites estimates that reforming Capital Gains Tax, for example, could raise up to £17bn a year. The money generated would: 

• Cover the cost of introducing a £10 an hour minimum wage for all social care staff, which the TUC estimates would cost the Treasury £230 million; 
• Potentially allow over £16bn to be invested in improving social care services across the UK. 

HIGHER PAY & BETTER STAFF CONDITIONS

There is also widespread support for higher pay and better conditions in social care. The TUC estimates that 580,000 social care workers – the vast majority (492,000) of whom are women – would get an immediate pay boost if ministers introduced a £10 minimum wage. 

Such a move would be very popular with the public. A new poll of working adults, carried out for the TUC by BritainThinks, shows there is widespread support for improving pay and conditions in the social care sector: 

• More than eight in 10 (86%) say that improving working conditions for social staff will improve the quality of care services. 
• Six in 10 (61%) workers earning £50,000 or more say they would be prepared to pay more tax to have better social care services; compared to less than a fifth (17%) who said they wouldn’t. 
• A similar number (83%) believe that all care workers should all be paid at least £10 per hour; including over three-quarters (77%) of workers who say they voted Conservative in the 2019 general election. 

FIXING STAFFING CRISIS IN SOCIAL CARE

The report also warned that urgent action is needed to tackle the staffing crisis in social care, which it describes as the “biggest challenge” facing the sector.  It highlights how, at any one time, the social care sector has approximately 122,000 vacancies with staff retention a huge issue. 

Endemic low pay and job insecurity are key reasons behind carers leaving the profession, noted the TUC. Analysis by the union body shows that seven out of 10 care workers earn less than £10 per hour and that one in four (24%) are employed on zero-hours contracts. The sector will continue to be “plagued by staffing shortages” unless ministers improve pay and conditions across the board, highlighted the report.

NEW SETTLEMENT FOR SOCIAL CARE

The TUC’s report also calls for a new settlement and vision for social care that addresses: 

• The need for stronger and more resilient care services that has been exposed by the coronavirus pandemic. 
• The undervaluing of the care workforce, and the lack of job security and dignity at work. 
• The understaffing of care services, and damaging impacts on stretched staff and the quality of care experienced by service users. 

According to the TUC, there is clear public support for more spending on social care; as well as fairer tax policies that could fund a high-quality National Care Service with decent pay and conditions for staff. Click here to download the TUC report on The new deal for Social Care: A new deal for the Workforce.

The UK’s trade body also recently warned against an abrupt end to furlough schemes, and is calling on the UK Government to establish a permanent short-time working scheme, to help protect working people through periods of future economic change. Click here to read more.