Full Description
As demand for care workers increases and supply decreases, it becomes crucial to know more about the body of paid workers that currently makes up this sector. The detailed Labour Force Survey statistics on gender, ethnicity, age, living and working arrangements and pay analysed within this study identify the workforce and the issues within the workforce that affect the recruitment and retention of care workers. The findings provide clear messages for policymakers, managers, trainers and practitioners. Two broad groups of care occupations - social care and childcare workers - constitute a substantial workforce: over a million workers in England alone, providing care in both the public and the private sector and for all ages, from babies to elderly people. These groups are compared with education and nursing workers, as well as with all women workers. The comparisons are used to explore the increasing competition between different job roles for the same staff and to recommend that policy makers look at cutting across today's boundaries and take a joined-up approach when considering the recruitment and retention of the care workforce.
Contents
1. Introduction The problem with 'care' Objectives and scope Defining the care workforce Why take a joined-up approach? 2. Main findings Occupations in the care workforce The Labour Force Survey Data findings Social care workers Childcare workers Nursing workers Education workers High-percentage female jobs All women workers Comparisons Within the 'care workforce': social care workers and childcare workers Care Assistants/Attendants and Nursing Workers Childcare workers and education workers 3. Critical evaluation Industry Comparing two approaches to defining the care workforce Consequences of using SOC Consequences of using SIC Comparability to other data sources Summary 4. Conclusions Getting an overview Recruitment and retention Gender and care responsibilities Ethnicity Adequacy of the LFS coding Gaps in current information Who will do the caring in the future? 5. Summary of key points Appendices 1 Technical note 2 SOC descriptions of social care and childcare workers: changes between 1990 and 2000 3 Data tables on the occupation groups 4 Data tables on the social and childcare workers by the regions of England
