Adult social care worth £43bn to English economy, survey shows
Research from Skills for Care reveals the economic contribution of the sector; the challenge now is to recruit, train and retain staff, by Sharon Allen
We have always known that adult social care was an essential part of the life of our communities, but until now didn’t know just how much the sector contributed to the economy in England.
Anecdotally, we always knew the contribution was significant but research commissioned by Skills for Care confirms that the economic value of the adult social care sector in England is an estimated £43bn – including all direct, indirect and induced effects.
We did have an inkling the economic impact of our sector would be significant as our national minimum dataset for social care has allowed us to demonstrate the size and scale of the sector through our annual Size and Structure reports. These influential reports have allowed us to estimate the numbers of establishments operating, jobs directly supported and people working in the sector.
So we knew the direct contribution which is the economic value directly associated with the sector’s activity would soon add up. Equally, the indirect effects relating to the sector’s spending on goods and services with various suppliers needed to be analysed and the induced effects of the wages spent by the sector’s workforce.
Breaking that figure down, there are three main elements:
Direct contribution
In terms of value to the English economy, the adult social care sector directly contributes more gross value added – a measure of the value of goods and services produced in an area, industry or sector of an economy – at £20bn than:
• the production and distribution of electricity and gas (£16bn)
• legal activities (£17bn)
• the arts, entertainment and recreation industries (£18bn)
• the food and drink service industry (£19bn)
Comparisons with other sectors also show that the adult social care sector directly employs more people (1.5 million) in England than:
• the construction industry (1.1 million);
•the transportation, storage and postal industry (1.1 million);
•the public administration and defence sector (1.2 million);
•all restaurants, cafes, pubs and bars in the food and drink service industry (1.3 million).
Indirect and induced effects
The indirect effects of spending on goods and services provided by suppliers to our sector plus the induced effect of the wages being spent by workers in our sector contributes a further spend of £22.4bn. Much of that figure will be spent through local suppliers with the social care setting being the hub of a myriad of services.
These figures are a powerful argument for seeing adult social care providers as not only as players in the lives of their communities, but also as key contributors to the prosperity of these same communities.
When we consider the economic impact across the sector’s workforce, throughout the supply chain and as a result of workers’ spending, the adult social care sector supports a total of 2.8m full-time equivalent jobs.
We also know that the ageing population in England means that the range and scale of services offered by the adult social care sector needs to be expanded in future, to keep up with demand.
Skills for Care knows our two big challenges are helping employers expand their workforce by recruiting and retaining the right people and making sure they have access to high quality training and support.
This will be no easy task but it is one that will be made easier by having a sound understanding of the current economic value of the sector, which will inform discussions with partners around the necessary levels of investment.
Armed with this new research we will continue to talk to employers of all sizes to find out what sort of training and development their workforce will need. This dialogue has already proved effective in developing qualification frameworks and other tools that will help deliver high quality services to some of the most vulnerable people in our communities.
This research strongly supports the case for continued investment in our sector to ensure this significant workforce, living and working in every community across the country, is appropriately skilled and capable to provide high quality care and support now and into the future.
Sharon Allen is chief executive of Skills for Care
