Last Updated on October 6, 2026
A new report warns loyalty is masking strain in social care as a study of more than 57,000 care workers publishes its findings. The first Click Pulse Workforce Insight Report, published by Flourish, draws on feedback from care workers across 1,936 organisations, collected between May and August 2026.
The study found care workers remain strongly driven by the difference they make to people's lives, but that pay and reward ranked as the weakest area of workforce experience across every region and job role analysed.
Key findings include:
- Pay and reward scored 67.9 on the report's 0 to 100 scale, ranking 10 to 14 points behind every other workforce category. It ranked bottom across every region and job role analysed.
- Care workers gave the strongest score to feeling their work makes a positive difference to the lives of the people they support, at 84.1. The weakest score was for whether pay meets the cost of living, at 63.8.
- Separate analysis of 2,033 valid self-reported hourly pay responses found the median rate was £13 an hour - just 29p above the National Living Wage of £12.71.
- More than one in seven respondents, 15.3%, reported being paid exactly the statutory minimum.
- When asked what employers could do to improve their working lives, care workers most often raised communication and employee voice, followed by training and development, and then pay, benefits and financial recognition.
The report comes as ministers consider major reforms to social care, including plans for a National Care Service and wider work around pay, progression and the future of the care workforce.
Launched in May 2026, Click Pulse gathers anonymous feedback from care workers through short questions built into Flourish's e-learning platform. The questions were developed in partnership with The Care Workers' Charity and cover areas including pay, wellbeing, leadership, learning, motivation and intention to stay.
The study also highlighted pressure among team leaders and supervisors supporting frontline care. They recorded the highest workforce stability score of any job-role group, suggesting strong intention to stay. However, they were much less likely than frontline care workers or managers to recommend their organisation as a place to work.
The report describes them as a potential 'squeezed middle', showing, in Flourish's view, why intention to stay should not automatically be taken as a sign that people are having a positive experience at work.
Care workers were also invited to say, in their own words, what employers could do to improve their experience:
- Among 4,149 comments, communication and employee voice was the most frequently raised theme, appearing in 20.6% of comments.
- Training, learning and development appeared in 18.3%, while pay, benefits and financial recognition appeared in 10.2%.
Flourish has written to the Prime Minister calling for action on pay, progression, wellbeing, training and employee voice while longer-term social care reforms are developed.
Commenting on the publication of the study's findings and accompanying report, Eammon Price, Chief Executive Officer at Flourish, said, 'These findings show the strength and the fragility of the social care workforce at the same time.
'Care workers are telling us very clearly that they believe in what they do and the difference they make to people's lives. But we cannot keep relying on that commitment while the basics of pay, reward and support lag behind.
'Pay and reward is not the weakest area in one part of the country or among one particular group of workers. It comes bottom across every region and job role we analysed. That matters enormously as the Government considers the future of social care. Whatever model emerges, it will depend on having enough skilled, motivated and supported people to deliver it.
'The Prime Minister has said social care workers should no longer feel invisible. These findings give us a chance to make sure their experiences are visible in the decisions being made about reform.
'Pay clearly matters, but care workers are also talking to us about leadership, wellbeing, training, progression and whether they feel listened to at work. That is why continuous listening matters.
'National workforce figures can tell us how many people have already left. By hearing directly from care workers throughout the year, we have an opportunity to understand what they are experiencing now and act on what they tell us.
'Social care reform cannot rely on goodwill alone. It has to be built around the experiences of the people delivering care every day.'
Karolina Gerlich, Chief Executive at The Care Workers' Charity, said, 'Care workers give so much to the people they support, and these findings show just how strongly they believe in the work they do.
'But we should not mistake that commitment for an absence of pressure. When care workers tell us about the challenges they face - whether that is pay, wellbeing, development or feeling heard at work - we need to listen.
'What matters now is that their experiences do not just sit in a report. Providers, commissioners and policymakers all have a role to play in understanding what care workers are telling us and using that insight to make meaningful improvements.'
The full Click Pulse Workforce Insight Report is available here.
In other news, the winners of Digital Care Hub's first Digital Care Photography Competition have been announced, depicting digital care in action.