…to seriously wonder why care work is seen to be the lowest of the low

[NellesVilla]

Yup, this old chestnut again.

And sorry for the dramatic title, but it really bothers me. I’m an ex-carer (live-in) and up until recently worked in admin for a care company. So have a background in care so to speak.

By trade I am a trained teacher but left due to mh issues to work p/t as a tutor (pre-covid). I’m now working again as a tutor part time and wish to take on a second job.

I have applied for many a social care job, and sadly (imho) they all get back to me within minutes of my application, keen/desperate to interview me.

Other than the personal care (which I dislike and makes me anxious- there, I’ve said it) I think it’s a lovely job. Why then does society look down on it?

”Oh, you’re a carer are you? Good for you!”, or something like “Can’t you do better; surely there’s something else out there?” or “Do you really want to do this? Aren’t you embarrassed?”: just some of the things that people have said to me on hearing my plans to (possibly) embark upon this as a job again.

Working in care can be greatly fulfilling and fun. As a tutor I’ve helped with clients’ literacy skills, accompanied them to college and also on holiday a few times.

How do you get society to not judge and instead actually view it as a viable career? Do you train carers further to almost become nursing assistants? Do you enable them to specialise in something like learning disabilities/autism/dementia etc? How do you get youngsters interested in it as a job/career?

How do you get society to recognise care as a career? Can care be a career unless you train to be some sort of manager in the field?

Because it's low pay and physically hard work. I wouldn't want to do it (quite possibly couldn't nowadays).

You say yourself you dislike the personal care part - which is what most people automatically think of when you say "care work". Certainly it's the bit people Get Carers In for.

The answer, as usual, is to make it pay better; ie make it more expensive. Almost certainly not going to happen any time soon.

Because I believe that many people will have this preconception that it’s all personal care - dressing , washing , toileting…
now if the career was framed to sound more professional like , personal assistant, social therapist , lifestyle improvement worker …
and came with some nice certificates it’d be more appealing.
nurses deal with all the same ‘icky’ stuff but because they are seen as healthcare professionals / medical it’s not what people assume they do all day.
so that was a very long way of saying that it needs to be promoted under new names with specialisms .

I admire people who do it, but I do question why caring is paid less than say driving (delivering). Because women tend to do it not men. I do not look down on carers. I volunteered in a care home once. I take my hat off to them.

I used to be one in a care home and was treated like dirt. Low pay and terrible hours and conditions. Nil flexibility. It was rewarding but physically demanding. Lots of cleaning also and making beds.
It really should be better paid than it is.

Another thing for home carers is the hours and driving in between houses. Eg most calls are very early or very late as people need it more first thing or last thing. You only get a set amount of time so if something happens you're behind for the day. Family members can be very demanding and demeaning also.

As a PP said - 'people assume it's all wiping arses' (as my best friend - who is a carer - says).

They don't see the medication management, the emotional intelligence required, the endless paperwork and constant risk assessing and the being with people when they're at their most vulnerable.

I've known/been around a lot of carers, from dementia carers to home care to care home workers, and lived with someone who had 24/7 care for a time (during which a carer spotted a potentially fatal complication developing nobody else living there had noticed any sign of) and I have the utmost respect.

It's high turnover work because it's HARD. It's not for everyone and we should be encouraging people who have the actual skillset for it by paying them appropriately, but we don't. So people do it, find it thankless and exhausting and the responsibility so huge in (often) awful conditions that they leave, and then the idea that it's a shit poorly paid job you do when you have no other option continues to proliferate. It's a bloody shame.

Having had a father and a mother in law in care homes due to dementia I have the utmost respect and gratitude to carers. I cannot understand how care work can be dismissed as unskilled and can only assume, as per pp, because it is mainly delivered by women.
Care work is hard, good carers make an immense difference and I will be forever grateful to the intelligent, skilled, supportive, loving professionals who helped me and my family in the final months of our parents’ lives.

Love the job titles, @Notanothernobhead - it would take away the ‘stigma’ of the title of carer. How awful I have to say that though!

its low status because it was historically work done inside people’s home. We as a society don’t value work that was previously done for free.

Other than the personal care (which I dislike and makes me anxious- there, I’ve said it)

Well, I think that’s the crux of it, isn’t it? Most people with choices, choose not to deal with other people’s urine & faeces multiple times a day.

I was thinking about the recent strikes. IMAGINE if care workers went on strike! I have a relative that worked all through lock down. Recently got covid now and not getting paid as told needs to be off. She is really ill anyway. Terrible.

That’s terrible to hear, @Belledan1 .

I did learning disability care after dropping out of uni, and I loved the job! I left because of the long hours and low pay. I used to start at 4pm work til 11pm sleep the night at the clients flat then work 7am until 11am the next day. Id often have 5/6 overnight shifts back to back which made it hard to have a life. Plus they would only offer me a 20 hour contract which affected holiday pay etc.

I left because of the low pay and impact on my lifestyle, now work in the civil service and have a better work/life balance and obviously better pay but do not find the job fulfilling at all!

Agree with PP - better pay is needed and better qualifications.

Tbh I have done care work, mostly hospitals and it was usually the other staff that pissed me off rather than the patients. Obviously some were a pita but most were fine.

I know there is a shortage, I have looked into getting back into it, no chance they seem to want the moon on a stick round here

I don't have personal experience but isn't care for the person cared for highly expensive?
I'll sound naive, but shouldn't that result in a decent pay for the carer?

I was going to say "yeah, that ^^" but actually I wouldn't mind nursing and there's plenty of excrement/ bodily fluids involved in that. I guess it's a vocation and one that's not for me.

I absolutely don't look down on those that do it though, and definitely would like to see pay and conditions in the sector rise substantially.

When I tell people I work in a care home, their whole demeanour changes.

Dh didn’t believe me until he saw it for himself.

If I say that my occupation is my sideline of buying and selling antiques, people are interested in speaking to me, engage with me and treat me like a human.

If I say I am a care worker, they look through me, start talking slower, or I get the head tilt and the, “oh, that must be sooooooo rewarding” line, before they give me a pitying look and then ignore me. Or they just speak to me like I’m thick.

There are huge expenses involved. Nobody is making money from care (despite what many think). The admin, insurance, consumables not to mention fuel prices. Most carers receive minimum wage and often are not properly reimbursed for their travel cost let alone the time spent traveling.

It’s womens work.

it’s really that simple.

most people expect women to do it for nothing you only need to read the threads on here of women being expected to care after their and their husbands elderly parents whilst smiling all the time

agree with all that’s been said here

something needs to change though as it cannot carry on as it is, I’m in a rural area of Scotland and there is a ridiculous amount of bed blocking currently and we’re not even into winter, no care packages available and no care home places, another one has just closed due to failings which is short sighted they should be supported to make the changes or taken over by the LA as that’s 3 in the last 2 years closed down so people can’t go home as no care packages and now can’t go into residential as no bed available, honestly frightening and I work in healthcare and am training to be a nurse currently

Because it's 'women's work' and society thinks women's work doesn't deserve good pay. Only 'real' work does, namely 'men's work.

I find on MN that there's a certain cache about being a midwife but not so much for being a nurse. I've read on here about high fliers desperate to become midwives rarely nurses. I think it's the perception that nursing/caring is providing bedpans and making brews and that the individuals in question aren't very bright.

This happened with me.

I've now left care. I just couldn't handle the rudeness from people vs the risk, plus NEVER a day off and never allowed to be ill.

I genuinely think that if people were less ignorant and actually new how much studying the carers have to do to actually do their job competently ,there would be far more respect for carers!

When I was doing the sign up for my nvq 3, the assessor actually sat there and said to me "you have such fantastic grades, why do you do this job?"

Uhm, because I'm fucking good at it.
Because I'm the carer that can get Mrs D to eat when no one else can.
I'm the carer that can calm down Mr A when he's in crisis and literally smashing up the home. I'm the carer that can take him from crisis point to calmly having a tea and a chat.
I'm the only carer that Ms B trusts and will allow anywhere near her without a fight.
I'm the carer that's trained specifically in end of life care and will be there holding someone's hand to the very end.
I'm the carer that can train the other carers how to deliver excellent end of life care, how to deliver calm and person centred dementia care.

People who say it's a shit job, or demeans the work are the people who have categorically no idea what it is like to be a carer. All the good that you do, all the bad that you see.

I worked up to HOC, but left the sector 9 months ago due to burn out, because unfortunately it turns out that there are still a great many care companies who don't realise how important the job is. And companies that don't take into consideration how exhausting PROPER dementia can be and that they need to look after their staff! But sometimes I really bloody miss end of life care.

It was written into our contracts we were not allowed to unionise and striking is a sackable offence. I've seen that clause in my last 3 care home/hospice contracts.