National care service ‘could create 1 million jobs’

Creating a universal care service could create a million new jobs and enable 1.9 million people to access publicly-funded care, according to research by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) and the Women’s Budget Group (WBG). They attempted to estimate the cost of creating a high-quality universal care service with well-paid care workers.

The two organisations call for a new universal social care system for England which is free at the point of need, improves the quality of care, and ensures good pay and conditions for care workers. Their report recommends that the government increase the social care budget by £31.9 billion, or 2.6 times the current budget, in order to create this.

In April of this year, the new health and social care levy will begin and national insurance contributions will rise by 1.25%. NEF and WBG argue that this is neither the most progressive option, nor will it raise enough money.

https://neweconomics.org/2022/02/universal-quality-social-care