This report, produced by IPC, was commissioned by Social Care Wales on behalf of the Social Care Fair Work Forum. The Forum is a social partnership group made up of employers, trade unions and other stakeholders who aim to improve working arrangements for social care workers in Wales.
This report examines pay structures across Wales’ social care workforce and their impact on recruitment and retention. Building on the pay and progression framework published by the Fair Work Forum, which outlines job bands (A–E) for children’s and adult social care roles, IPC undertook a mixed-methods evaluation that included:
- a rapid desk-based evidence review;
- analysis of job adverts;
- an employer survey; and
- focus groups and interviews with employers and care workers.
The findings present a consistent picture of a sector facing long-standing workforce pressures that are strongly shaped – but not fully explained – by low pay.
