Executive summary

Where we are now

There is no single entity with all the levers for change in adult social care. It is a complex system with influence spread across several groups - and that is why we need a strategy. Several bodies own the levers of change in adult social care: national government; local government and integrated care systems (ICSs); care providers; the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and workforce support bodies like Skills for Care. 

Social care is important for people, for communities and for the economy. It enables people to live well and contributes £60 billion to England’s economy each year. 

Demographic changes mean that it is likely that the adult social care workforce will need to grow. We are living for longer – and the number of people aged over 65 is expected to grow by almost a third in the next decade. This means we may need 540,000 new social care posts by 2040. The number of people aged 18-64 with a learning disability, mental health need¹ or a physical disability is also projected to increase over this period. By the time a person is aged 75, they are 60% more likely to possess two or more significant conditions. This figure increases to 75% for those between the ages of 85 and 89 years old.²  

We are in a globally competitive labour market. Demographic changes are happening around the world. Countries we currently recruit from will need to keep more of their own workers – and we may face international competition for our own workers. 

We cannot currently attract or keep enough people. In 2023-24, there were 131,000 vacancies on any given day – a vacancy rate of 8.3%, which was around three times the average for the economy. Over a quarter of people leave their jobs in care each year and around a third of them leave the sector altogether. 29% of our workforce – around 440,000 people – are over 55 and could retire in the next decade. Simply put, we don’t have enough people in adult social care today and we are going to need more tomorrow.

Where we need to get to

This Strategy sets out our direction for the short and longer term, as well as pragmatic action to be taken in the short to medium term to address current workforce challenges. Those actions fall into three priority areas. 

• Government to lead joined up, consistent action on pay and terms and conditions over a number of years with local government, employers and unions. This will make sure we can compete in an increasingly competitive market where we have already seen the number of people with a British nationality in the workforce decrease by 70,000 over the last two years.³ 

• To keep investing, consistently, in training and clear career pathways to equip social care workers for exceptional care in a changing world. 

• A legislative basis for a workforce strategy, similar to the Health and Care Act requirement⁴ on the Secretary of State to: “at least once every five years, publish a report describing the system in place for assessing and meeting the workforce needs of the health service in England.” This is not a ‘nice to have’ - it is fundamental.