A Fair Pension Scheme for Care Workers Is Long Overdue. We Are Ready to Help Build It.
The Care Workers’ Charity welcomes the commitments Health and Social Care Secretary Yvette Cooper made at the 2026 Labour Conference today. A national pension scheme, reiteration of a legally binding Fair Pay Agreement and a proper workforce plan are the right priorities. We stand ready to help deliver them with care workers at the centre.
The Health and Social Care Secretary is right that “it is just wrong that the people who work hardest to help others maintain dignity and respect in old age too often get nothing back from retirement themselves.” Our 2025 Wellbeing Survey of more than 2,000 care workers found that 72% do not feel financially secure, and 57.4% named low hourly pay as the biggest cause. Including pension, a care support worker’s average package is worth £25,376, compared with £36,367 for an NHS Band 3 role (Community Integrated Care, Unfair to Care, March 2026). The first national collective pension scheme for care workers is a real chance to start closing that gap.
Care workers will judge these commitments by what they see in their working lives. As one care worker stated in our 2025 Wellbeing report ‘The cost of living is taking all our monthly salary preventing us from saving enough for future investment and for unforeseen circumstances.’ – this is the reality care workers face, and it is one they face right now. The pension scheme and workforce plan must be designed with care workers, not around them, and backed by clear timescales and funding so that they can be confident in planning their future. The “voice of that hidden army” of both professional care workers and unpaid carers must be heard in government.
Karolina Gerlich, Chief Executive of The Care Workers’ Charity, said:
“Today care workers heard a Health and Social Care Secretary talk about their retirement, not just their pay. This is a welcome discussion but foundations only count if they are built well. We invite Yvette Cooper to design the pension scheme and the workforce plan with care workers from day one, through our Advisory Board and Champions Project. Care workers are ready to help build this, and so are we.”
What needs to change
The Care Workers’ Charity is calling on the Government to:
1. Co-design the pension scheme and workforce plan with care workers, through the Care Worker Advisory Board and Champions Project. 2. Build the workforce plan on the Care Workforce Pathway, so experience and skills are rewarded in pay.
3. To protect the funding of the Fair Pay Agreement by ring-fencing funds for future years and for immediate bridging plan to be established to ensure that care workers can stay in the jobs they love without financial hardship.
Interviews available:
· Karolina Gerlich, Chief Executive of The Care Workers’ Charity — available for TV, radio and print interviews. Karolina is a former care worker, regularly briefs MPs and government on social care workforce policy, and has been quoted in national media including BBC News, the Guardian and the Times.
· Care workers with lived experience — CWC can connect journalists with care workers willing to speak on the record about pay, working conditions, and reliance on the charity’s hardship grants. Case studies available on request.
About The Care Workers’ Charity (CWC) The Care Workers’ Charity is the only UK charity dedicated to supporting paid care workers across the social care sector. We have provided over £7 million in crisis grants to over 14,000 care workers. We offer mental well-being support to care workers, ensuring they receive assistance during challenging times. The CWC provides accredited Mental Health First Aid training to care workers and other staff and advocates for policy changes to improve lives and working conditions in the UK. We participate in government roundtables, academic forums, and policy discussions, sharing insights from our grant applicants’ experiences. To learn more about our mission and initiatives, visit www.thecareworkerscharity.org.uk.
Registered charity no. 1207208. Registered office: Rushworth Studios, 2 Rushworth Street, London, SE1 0RB. www.thecareworkerscharity.org.uk
Broadcast-ready clips, b-roll, photography and care worker case studies available on request. Media contact: Shanna Wells | shanna@thecwc.org.uk | 07930 992443