The UK Social Care Workforce in Numbers

Adult social care in England had an estimated 1.59 million filled posts in 2025/26, a fourth consecutive year of growth, while the staff vacancy rate fell to 6.2%, its lowest level since 2015/16, leaving around 96,000 vacancies on any given day (Skills for Care, 2025/26, as at July 2026, subject to change).

This piece gathers the adult social care workforce's headline figures from Skills for Care, the body that compiles the sector's workforce data for England, with the reference year and a link at each point of use. It covers how big the workforce is, vacancies and turnover, who does the work, and where demand may be heading. Two Skills for Care vintages are used: the latest 2025/26 update and the fuller 2024/25 report, which are on slightly different bases, as the methodology note explains. Figures describe England, with Scotland and Northern Ireland flagged where the position differs, and are current as at July 2026, subject to change.

How big is the social care workforce?

It is one of the largest workforces in the country. In 2024/25 there were an estimated 1.71 million total posts (filled and vacant) in adult social care in England, of which about 1.60 million were filled and 111,000 vacant, and those posts were held by around 1.50 million people, roughly 4.9% of the economically active population (Skills for Care, 2024/25 report, as at July 2026, subject to change). On a full-time equivalent basis the sector filled about 1.24 million posts. Source: Skills for Care, 2024/25, as at July 2026, subject to change.

The most recent update puts filled posts at around 1.59 million in 2025/26, some 22,000 (1.4%) more than the previous year, though that was the slowest growth in four years (Skills for Care 2025/26 data, reported by Community Care, as at July 2026, subject to change). The sector was also estimated to contribute £77.8 billion of gross value added a year to the economy in England in 2024/25, with a wage bill of £31.8 billion (Skills for Care, 2024/25, as at July 2026, subject to change).

Key figures at a glance

The table gathers the verified workforce figures for adult social care in England, each with its reference year and a link. Headline vacancy and filled-post figures use the latest 2025/26 Skills for Care update; the structural, turnover and demographic figures come from the fuller 2024/25 report; the ageing figures come from ONS population projections.

All figures as at July 2026 and subject to change. The 2025/26 and 2024/25 Skills for Care figures are on slightly different vintages and should not be directly differenced, as explained in the methodology note.

Who works in social care

The workforce is older than the economy as a whole and increasingly international. The average age of a care worker in England was 44.0 in 2024/25, with 27% aged 55 and over against 22% of the economically active population, and about 8% aged under 25 (Skills for Care, 2024/25, as at July 2026, subject to change). A workforce skewed towards older ages means a meaningful share may retire within the next decade.

Nationality has shifted markedly since the pandemic. In 2025/26 an estimated 1,075,000 filled posts (67.5%) were held by British nationals, about 430,000 (27%) by non-EU nationals and around 90,000 (5%) by EU nationals, while new international recruits arriving directly from abroad fell to 30,000, the lowest in four years, after a dedicated visa route was closed (Skills for Care 2025/26, reported by Community Care, as at July 2026, subject to change).

Source: Skills for Care 2025/26, reported by Community Care. Shares are rounded by the source and may not sum to 100%. Figures as at July 2026 and subject to change.

What the numbers mean

Read together, the figures describe a large workforce that has grown for four years while still carrying high turnover and a reliance on overseas recruitment. Filled posts rose to about 1.59 million in 2025/26 and vacancies fell to a decade low of 6.2%, yet a 23.1% turnover rate in 2024/25 means the sector must recruit heavily just to stand still (Skills for Care, 2024/25 and 2025/26, as at July 2026, subject to change). In our view, a falling vacancy rate alongside slowing growth and fewer international arrivals points to a workforce that is stabilising rather than expanding quickly.

For families, workforce pressure matters because staffing is the largest cost in a care home, so tight labour markets and rising wage bills tend to feed through into what care costs, as our overview of the care home sector sets out. Where care is self-funded, that cost falls on income, savings and sometimes property, which is why later-life care features in so much estate planning. Planning of this kind is about limiting and mitigating the impact of care fees, not avoiding an assessed contribution: deliberately giving away assets to reduce a care bill can be treated by a local authority as a deliberate deprivation of assets and challenged (gov.uk, paying for your own care, as at July 2026, subject to change). Because the rules are detailed, many people choose to discuss their options with a qualified professional, and our guide to Care Home Fees explains how the means test works.

The numbers describe a workforce under steady strain. They do not, on their own, tell any one family what their care will cost, which depends on needs, location and means.

The demand outlook

Demand is likely to grow with the ageing population. Skills for Care estimates that, if the workforce grows in line with the projected number of people aged 65 and over, around 410,000 additional posts could be needed by 2040 (Skills for Care 2025/26, reported by Community Care, as at July 2026, subject to change). That is a projection of need, not a forecast of what will be funded or filled.

The underlying driver is age. There were 1.75 million people aged 85 and over in the UK in mid-2024, about 2.5% of the population, projected to roughly double to 3.6 million, or 4.9%, by mid-2049 (ONS, National population projections, 2024-based, as at July 2026, subject to change). Since the oldest age group is most likely to need care, the direction of travel is one reason many people consider later-life planning earlier rather than later, and our wider estate planning guide sets the care question in context.

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