Over 70 per cent of Doncaster's care home staff are not paid the "living wage"

Figures show 72 per cent of staff in the borough do not earn the equivalent of £9.50 an hour. There are 4,609 care home workers in Doncaster but 3,342 do not earn the Living Wage.

The living wage is described as a pay packet that is high enough to ‘maintain a normal standard of living’.

The rate of pay for care home workers is said to vary across Doncaster but one care home worker who didn’t wish to be named, said they got paid £8.62 an hour before their recent promotion with a 99 pence an hour pay rise.

The Labour Party, who carried out the research demanded the Government publish a plan for all social care workers to be paid the real Living Wage.

Doncaster Labour councillor Tosh McDonald said: “It is a sad day for Doncaster that this has come to light and I would urge all care homes to pay a decent salary to all the front line heroes working in our care homes.”

Care England, which represents the major private providers, singled out government funding as the reason for low pay.

“The way in which social care is funded makes it impossible for care providers to pay what our valued staff are truly worth,” Martin Green, its chief executive said.

The real living wage is calculated based on public consultation about necessities and analysis of the cost of living.

It differs from the statutory national living wage which is currently £8.72 per hour for people aged 25 and over. In London only 10 per cent of care workers earn more than £10.85 per hour, which is the threshold in the capital adjusted for the higher cost of housing and transport.

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