Why the Adult Social Care Workforce Research Partnership matters

Liz Jones (Policy Director)
Finn Turner-Berry (Workforce and Research Lead)
National Care Forum 

October 2025

Understanding and responding to workforce challenges

This five-year initiative (2025-2030) matters because it will drive meaningful change in the social care sector to help us respond to workforce challenges across four key areas:

  1. Labour supply, demand and markets.

  2. Wellbeing of social care staff.

  3. Innovation in work conditions, roles and the way work is organised.

  4. The use of data and technology to improve workforce practices.

At the National Care Forum, we know too well the challenges that face our workforce; our sector is struggling to recruit and retain a sustainable domestic workforce that meets the needs of a growing population. Skills for Care data shows that the vacancy rate for adult social care is still three times that of the wider economy and that the sector is still likely to need to create and fill another 470,000 posts by 2040 to keep up with the projected growth in the population over the age of 65.  We also know that while care worker pay has increased in recent years it is still low compared to other jobs in the economy.

In 2025 we need new future-focussed approaches to the challenges facing our workforce; these solutions must embrace the role of technology and pay attention to the changing nature of care and support work, the changing expectations of our workforce and the emerging asks of the care and support sector as the UK population ages. Therefore, this vital partnership matters because it is tackling these issues head on and will bring a step change in understanding and addressing the challenges facing the care workforce.

By the sector, for the sector, with the sector

The Adult Social Care Workforce Research (Care Work) Partnership matters because it centres around Community Involvement and Engagement (CIE).

“By the sector, for the sector, with the sector” is a tagline you will often hear in adult social care research. It is something we at the National Care Forum often feel is said but not realised in practice.  We hear from providers on the ground in the care and support sector that they frequently feel like unequal partners in academic research programmes or that they are a ‘necessary inconvenience’ to be overcome. The Care Work Partnership is directly responding to this challenge and flipping that dynamic on its head. CIE is part of every stage of this partnership and at every level; in fact it has underpinned the entire design of the programme. As one of the organisations leading on supporting CIE, the NCF is really encouraged by the way in which the voices of care and support workers, care and support providers, and people who draw on care and support are being actively incorporated into partnership’s programme of work – from working groups to steering committees, community involvement and engagement is a thread running through the partnerships work.

We can only grapple with the critical workforce challenges facing our sector and develop sustainable solutions if we work ground-up with the people delivering and those drawing upon care and support. The Care Work Partnership does this at scale and is well placed to help the sector respond to the workforce challenges it is experiencing.

It takes a village

The partnership matters because it is bringing together real-world expertise from local authorities, the national social care and support sector, and multi-disciplinary researchers. Responding to the workforce challenges facing the care and support sector requires and innovative thinking and a novel approach. We are, therefore, delighted that the partnership has a multi-disciplinary team with experts in HR, labour market economics, wellbeing, nursing, technology and more taking on some of the tricky problems the sector is facing.

We are delighted to be part of this research programme and excited that it has now begun its work, collaborating closely with us, other key national social care organisations and those working in and drawing on care and support. The multi-disciplinary nature of this project will be key to this programme’s success, and we look forward to helping it deliver on its potential.