Action: Ageism impacts older workers retention - Skills for Care

Evidence: Older care workers are priceless

Insight: Keep older care workers, working.

The state of the adult social care sector and workforce in England Skills for Care - October 2023

Almost one third of the care workforce is likely to retire within the next ten years

This report provides a stark reminder why HWL’s work to stimulate innovation that helps retain and recruit older workers is so vital.

Technology has a critical role to play in both the progression and wellbeing of the care workforce and those they care for, as demand increases and resources are stretched.

The report finds that the average age of care staff in 2021/22 was 45 years, with 28% aged 55 and over. This means that almost a third of the workforce is likely to retire within the next ten years, and so with fewer people replacing senior care workers, this will create even more serious staffing issues in the near future.

The facts

Chart 47 shows the age distribution of the adult social care workforce in comparison to the economically active population and the whole population in England. The age profile of the adult social care workforce was skewed towards the older age bands, with 29% of workers (440,000 filled posts) aged 55 and over, compared to 21% of workers in the economically active population.

From a workforce planning point of view, workers aged 55 and over may retire within the next ten years.

Source: Skills for Care estimates 2022/23, Labour Force Survey 2022/23, Census 2021

Chart 48 shows the estimated age bands and average age of workers by selected job roles. In the adult social care sector, the average age of a worker was 44.6 years old. Care workers had the youngest age profile, with 11% being under 25 years old. Over a third (36%) of registered nurses were aged 55 or over, with an average age of 48.7 years old.

Source: Skills for Care estimates 2022/23

Turnaround needs to be rapid

The Health and Social Care Workforce Wellbeing and Coping Study has published its Phase 6 Report and Executive Summary. Researchers found the workforce faces continuing substantial pressure, staff shortages and is finding it difficult to cope. In this post, we summarise our findings.

Within social care workers, 44.2% considered changing their occupation during the pandemic, followed closely by midwives (41.4%), nurses (37.6%), within both, social workers and AHPs, 36.2% of respondents considered changing their occupation.