What our latest data tells us about individual employers and personal assistants

We look at what our latest data tells us about individual employers and personal assistants.

Skills for Care’s latest ‘State of the adult social care sector and workforce in England’ report includes our most recent data about individual employers (IEs) and personal assistants (PAs).

This data is taken from our ‘Individual employers and the personal assistant workforce, 2023’ report which includes responses from a large-scale survey sent to individual employers and personal assistants.

Around 215,000 people were receiving direct payments as at 2021/22.20. We estimate that around 69,000 (32%) of these direct payment recipients were directly employing their own staff in 2022/23.

This figure has remained stable at around 70,000 between 2014/15 and 2022/23. Between 2008 and 2013, this figure increased by around 35,000 in line with take-up of direct payments over the same period.

Individual employers, on average, employed 1.87 PAs each, and there were an estimated 130,000 filled posts working for direct payment recipients in 2022/23.

PAs held an average of 1.29 PA posts each, meaning that around 100,000 people fill these roles.

The median hourly pay rate for PAs in England was £10.50 as at February 2023. This is higher than the average pay for care workers in the independent sector.

The average turnover rate of PAs was 20.1%. This is lower than the turnover rate for care workers in the independent sector.

There could be several reasons that PAs have a lower turnover rate than care workers, including the close relationship between PAs and their employers, differences in the work carried out by the two roles, and better terms and conditions for PAs.

For example, PAs had higher pay rates and a lower reliance on zero-hours contracts, both of which are factors we have identified result in better retention.

From all PAs who responded to the survey, the most common areas of support that PAs said they provided were:

• support with household duties
• personal care
• mobility/moving and assisting
• attending appointments
• socialising with friends/family.

On average PAs have 4.4 years’ experience in their role and 10.4 years’ experience in the sector.

The average age of a PA was 47.0 years old, with 10% of the workforce being aged 65 and over, and 82% identifying as female.

The top training category that PAs reported undertaking were:

• first aid training
• health and safety
• moving and handling.

The elements of the role which the PAs surveyed said they found most rewarding were:

• helping people
• working for their employer
• their working hours
• the variety of the role
• working with the families of the employer.

Find out more with our full report on individual employers and personal assistants.

Learn more about the importance of data with our #DataDrivesChange spotlight.

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