Recruitment and retention of younger people in Social Care: new research to explore and share successful practice
Beth Hardy (Research Fellow)
Kirsty Haunch (Research Fellow)
Bronte Heath (Research Fellow)
School of Healthcare, University of Leeds
November 2025
A missing generation
It is widely recognised that there are challenges in terms of recruiting and retaining people to work in social care.
The workforce crisis frequently hits national headlines and the impact of this is felt painfully by everyone in the sector, with consequences for staff wellbeing and quality of care.
Recent data from Skills for Care (2025), the strategic workforce development and planning body for adult social care in England, shows that the workforce lacks diversity in several areas.
One significant area of concern is the age profile of workers. The average age of a person working in social care is 44, and 27% of workers are over the age of 55 (SfC, 2025). Younger people are underrepresented and are less likely to work in adult social care compared to other sectors. Younger people under 30 are more likely to leave their role compared to other age groups; the sector is struggling to retain younger staff (SfC, 2025).
Why does this matter?
This matters because social care is for everyone, and without younger employees, organisations and people who use social care services are missing the diversity of experience and perspective that younger people can contribute to the care team.
Moreover, given the current age profile of the workforce, a majority of those currently working in social care could retire in the next 10 to 20 years. This further threatens the stability of a workforce already under pressure. Attracting and keeping more younger people in the sector is needed now more than ever
Research has shown that organisations face several challenges to employing younger people. There is significant competition to recruit this workforce from job roles with similar entry requirements and pay from sectors like hospitality and retail. Even when younger people are recruited into social care, retention is a major issue; 43% of under 30-year-old care workers leave their care jobs. Some report feeling underprepared and unsupported, both practically and emotionally, which undermines their ability to thrive. Without targeted strategies and approaches to attracting, recruiting and retaining younger workers, the sector risks losing a generation of potential talent.
What we’re doing to help
This is where the OSCAR study comes in. A new research partnership (NIHR Care Work) has been set up to find solutions to workforce issues. The partnership includes members of the public, social care employers, local authorities and Universities. The partnership spoke with people working in social care and found out that for many organisations, employment of younger people was a priority, and one of the issues that they wanted to improve.
The OSCAR research project will find and speak to organisations that have success in attracting and retaining younger people to explore how they overcome challenges in finding, employing and keeping younger staff, and bucking the overall employment trend.
The research will be undertaken over the next year, with opportunities for organisations interested in employing younger people to get involved.
Follow us, find out more
To keep up to date with how this research unfolds and learn more about the Care Work partnership, you can visit the webpages. Here you can also find contact details for the researchers working on this project.
References:
Skills for Care (2025) The state of the adult social care sector and workforce in England. Available from: https://www.skillsforcare.org.uk/Adult-Social-Care-Workforce-Data/workforceintelligence/resources/Reports/National/The-state-of-the-adult-social-care-sector-and-workforce-in-England-2025.pdf [Accessed on 23.10.25]