Are Care Workers Paid Below the National Living Wage? (2026)

Are care workers in the UK paid below the living wage? Research over the past few years shows that many frontline care workers earn at or only just above the legal minimum. This article looks at what the research found, and when, and gives the current National Living Wage rate.

The current National Living Wage

From April 2026, the National Living Wage is £12.71 an hour for workers aged 21 and over. This is the legal minimum. It was £12.21 an hour from April 2025 to March 2026.

The National Living Wage is different from the "real Living Wage". The real Living Wage is a separate rate set by the Living Wage Foundation, based on the cost of living. Employers pay it voluntarily. At the time of writing it is £13.45 an hour, or £14.80 in London, with new rates due to be announced on 15 October 2026. Some headlines mix the two up, so it is worth checking which one a report means.

2020: around half of care workers paid less than the real Living Wage

In April 2020, early in the pandemic, the Resolution Foundation think tank published a report called What happens after the clapping finishes? It looked at the pay and conditions of frontline care workers across the UK, using official survey data from 2017 to 2019.

It found that:

• around half of frontline care workers were paid less than the real Living Wage. The figure was slightly above four in ten using one official survey (the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings) and just below six in ten using another (the Labour Force Survey)
• 83% of frontline care workers were women
• care workers were four times more likely than average to be on a zero-hours contract
• estimates of how many care workers were paid less than the legal minimum varied widely, from roughly 20,000 to 160,000. Unpaid travel time between home care visits was one reason

At that time, the real Living Wage was £9.30 an hour outside London and £10.75 in London. The often-quoted claim that "58% of care workers are paid below the living wage" matches the Labour Force Survey figure in this report. It refers to the real Living Wage, not the legal National Living Wage.

2025: many care workers on or near the legal minimum

Skills for Care, which publishes data on the adult social care workforce in England, published a pay update in 2026 based on data from December 2025. As reported by the Homecare Association, it found that:

• the median hourly rate for a care worker in the independent sector was £12.60
• that was only 39p above the National Living Wage at the time (£12.21)
• around a quarter (26%) of care workers were paid within 10p of the legal minimum

Since then, the National Living Wage has risen to £12.71. This means a care worker on the December 2025 median rate of £12.60 would need a pay rise from April 2026 to stay at or above the legal minimum, if they are aged 21 or over.

Why care worker pay matters to families

The Resolution Foundation noted that turnover among care workers is very high. For families choosing care, staff turnover can affect how well carers get to know the person they support. When you look at home care agencies or care homes, it is fair to ask about staff turnover and how they keep their team.

Our guides to home care and paying for care explain what to ask. If you look after a family member yourself, without pay, see our guide to help for carers. You may be able to get Carer's Allowance, which is £86.45 a week if you care for someone for at least 35 hours a week and they get certain benefits.

Sources

• National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates (GOV.UK)
• What happens after the clapping finishes? (Resolution Foundation, 19 April 2020)
• Pay in the adult social care sector (Skills for Care)
• Homecare Association responds to Skills for Care's pay report (Homecare Association, February 2026)
• What is the real Living Wage? (Living Wage Foundation)
• Carer's Allowance (GOV.UK)