Careworkers have been on the frontline of the UK’s fight against COVID-19, but a Real Living Wage would put them at the heart of our economic recovery too. Increasing pay to £9.30 an hour (£10.75 in London) would enable a million low-paid workers to start spending in local businesses and communities up and down the country.
We know that the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer are due to make major financial announcements in the first half of July, and then again in the autumn Budget. A national newspaper recently reported that the Chancellor is actively considering paying the Real Living Wage to Careworkers. We have to win this campaign before their contribution to the fight against COVID-19 is forgotten.
If enough MPs and council leaders (who commission a lot of social care) join our campaign, it increases the pressure on the UK Government to provide the £1.4 billion extra investment needed to fund a Real Living Wage for Careworkers.
Your MP has direct influence over decisions like this, and they respond to their constituents, so please make your views known, and ask them to sign the Living Wage for Careworkers Charter.
The Living Wage for Careworkers Charter:
We all rely on the one million careworkers on the frontline of the UK’s fight against the pandemic. Careworkers have worked tirelessly throughout COVID-19 to look after the most vulnerable in our society – and have found themselves at risk, often without adequate PPE, and without the esteem afforded to NHS workers.
Over half of frontline careworkers earn below the voluntary Living Wage of £9.30 an hour (£10.75 in London) and are struggling to keep their heads above water.
As careworkers, care recipients, care commissioners, council leaders, politicians and community leaders, we all agree that no careworker deserves poverty pay. We have applauded careworkers on Thursday evenings – now is the time to match our applause with a guarantee that they will earn enough to live a decent life.
We call on the UK Government to provide the £1.4 billion in additional funding so that every care sector worker that delivers publicly funded care can be paid at least the voluntary Living Wage of £9.30 an hour (£10.75 in London).
