The adult social care sector will have to change if it wants to recruit and retain more young people, according to a new report by the King’s Fund.
Young people are particularly underrepresented in the workforce, with 18–24-year-olds making up just 8% of employees within the sector – this compares to 13% of the retail workforce and 50% of all waiters and waitresses.
When young people do try out a role in adult social care, they typically leave within the first year of the job. Previous research suggests this is often due to young people perceiving a career in adult social care as ‘too difficult’, however, this new survey suggests that the main reason young people leave so early is because of a lack of support and bullying by other staff.
Simon Bottery, report co-author and Senior Fellow at the King’s Fund, said employers should therefore work on improving organisational culture and tackling bullying and discrimination if the sector is to build a sustainable workforce for the future.
The new report, Younger people’s experiences of working in adult social care, is based on 16 interviews with young care workers. The researchers aimed to understand young people’s journey into social care, their experiences of working in the sector and their plans for the future.
One of the key findings was that many young people fall into care work by accident. Care worker roles were generally viewed as a readily available route into paid work or work experience, with many of the interviewees noting that they didn’t know what to expect from the role.
The application and interview process was generally viewed as short and almost ‘too easy’. The time span from finding a role to submitting an application to having an interview and receiving a job offer was usually around two weeks, with many offered the job on the spot.
However, when young people began their role, many were shocked at what the role actually entailed. Some were faced with what they felt was unprecedented levels of responsibility i.e. managing medication and operating ventilators.
Many felt their induction was too brief, comprising of anywhere from one day to two weeks, before they were left to work independently. When they asked for help, many said they felt colleagues were uninterested and unwilling to facilitate their learning, with some young people feeling like a ‘burden’.
More positively, as time went on and care workers began to find their feet, many said the job could be a source of enjoyment, fulfilment and pride. They said while the job was hard, it could be very rewarding particularly as relationships solidified with the people they cared for.
Those interviewed by the King’s Fund said their working conditions and workplace culture was the aspect of their experience that they were most keen to share. Often, the interviewees had worked in multiple care settings and they said the environment and relationships within these settings could vary quite considerably – and that it could make the difference between their staying or leaving.
While some reported working in supportive and warm team environments, almost all the young people had experienced poor management and unsupportive colleagues, with some severe instances of bullying and harassment.
It seemed to be an accepted fact that the sector was ‘cliquey’, ‘gossipy’ and ‘bitchy’, with some young people saying they were often the subject of jokes, name calling, criticism and being given the ‘crappy’ tasks. In more severe cases, young people said they were ‘ganged up’ on by managers or more established workers, with some making false accusations of poor practice and humiliating them in front of the wider team.
On top of this, many were asked to work longer shifts fairly regularly, leaving them feeling overstretched and unable to spend the time and energy they would like with the people receiving care. It also left some young people feeling that they were not valued or cared for. As one young person put it: ‘You’re just a care worker so you do as you’re told’. Another described feeling as if they were treated as ‘a number’ rather than a person.
As a result of their generally poor treatment, most young care workers said they planned to leave the sector entirely. Despite the rewarding aspects, many felt their care work took a physical and emotional toll, with some considering moving to different person-centred roles such as nursing.
Some said they would return to social care if the working environment changed. However, many said that they would also felt undervalued due to being paid minimum wage for the vital work they do.
With this in mind, the King’s Fund says the social care sector can be a very difficult place for younger staff, and various strategies are needed to ensure young people are encouraged to find and stay in caring roles. This includes:
The authors of the report says without these changes, there is a risk that providers will create a “self-fulfilling prophecy” in which beliefs about the unsuitability of younger people, driven by wider societal attitudes, lead to assumptions that they will not stay long in social care.
“As a result (and also because of capacity pressures within the sector), young people are left without the support they need, making it even more likely that they will leave. This in turn reinforces assumptions about the unsuitability of care work for young people,” the report concludes.
