Supporting the well-being of the social care workforce in Wales 2025
Compiled by Dr Grace Krause, edited by Dr Kat Deerfield, Dr Rhian Reynolds and Dr Flossie Caerwynt
In this briefing, we’ve gathered findings from our research to explore the experiences of the social care workforce in Wales in relation to their well-being.
We consider how the well-being of social care workers compares to the general population and how well-being and working conditions are linked.
We also include information about what’s happening and what’s planned to support the well-being of the social care workforce in Wales.
These are some of the important things we learned from those who responded to our 2025 Have Your Say survey (Social Care Wales, 2025a):
- 82.77 per cent of social care workers said their morale was good
- social care workers overall scored slightly higher on life satisfaction and happiness than the general population
- social care workers scored higher on anxiety than the general population
- 54.4 per cent said they struggled to switch off when they leave work
- 43.52 per cent suggested they had enough support to deal with stress
- the main causes of stress were reported as workload (35.37 per cent), paperwork or administrative workload (27.19 per cent) and worrying about things outside of work (23.76 per cent)
- 45.92 per cent suggested they'd attended work at least twice in the past year despite being so ill they should have stayed at home
- most people feel supported by their colleagues (80.72 per cent) and their manager (72.64 per cent)
- 12.67 per cent of the workforce don't feel safe at work, and this figure rises to 18.09 per cent for social workers
- 38.11 per cent of the workforce have access to sick pay beyond statutory sick pay, dropping to 30.6 per cent of care workers
- 66.15 per cent said the right staff were in place to deliver services effectively.
Life satisfaction
where 0 is “not at all satisfied” and 10 is “completely satisfied”
- Social care workforce: 7.78 (UK average: 7.45 and Welsh average: 7.64).
Feeling the things you do in your life are worthwhile
where 0 is "not at all worthwhile" and 10 is "completely worthwhile"
- Social care workforce: 8.25 (UK average: 7.73 and Welsh average: 7.89).
Happiness
"Overall, how happy did you feel yesterday, where 0 is ‘not at all happy’ and 10 is ‘completely happy’?”
- Social care workforce: 7.75 (UK average: 7.39 and Welsh average: 7.61).
Anxiety
where 0 is “not at all anxious” and 10 is “completely anxious”
- Social care workforce: 5.30 (UK average: 3.23 and Welsh average: 2.92).
There are some significant differences in comparison to last year’s findings. For the first time since we started asking people about their well-being like this, social care workers in Wales reported higher well-being scores than the UK or Welsh averages.
However, as we’ve already noted they also scored significantly higher in anxiety. It’s not clear what might have caused these changes in this year’s data.
Workload and staffing levels
When we asked the workforce about causes of stress, the most frequent response was workload. This was the case across all job groups. About half of managers (50.41 per cent) and social workers (49.52 per cent) suggested that workload was the main cause of stress they experienced. And 31.07 per cent of care workers said the same.
The second most frequently reported cause of stress was administrative duties. This was higher for both managers (40.83 per cent) and social workers (47.21 per cent). This was also the fourth most common answer from care workers, with 21.27 per cent naming administrative duties as a source of stress.
Workload was the biggest cause of stress for everyone in the workforce, with paperwork obligations reported as the second most common cause
Social care workers were more likely to say that worries outside of work were impacting them (23.76 per cent). Stress linked to life outside of work was also the third most frequent response for social workers (27.35 per cent) and managers (25.98 per cent).
We know that many social care workers enter the sector because they want to make a difference to people’s lives. Helping people to have a good life is one of the main things that the workforce told us they enjoy about their work (Social Care Wales, 2025a). One person said:
- “It’s my passion to touch lives, to assist people. They're vulnerable people, and that's what I love doing. So the best way I can reach out to community is to join social care.” (Rhys, support worker)
But some respondents shared how working conditions sometimes make it hard for people working in social care to perform their work to the best of their abilities:
- “You’re also under pressure to overdo things. […] So […] when you do all of this […] you're stressed out […] and you might not […] be at your best.” (Stacey, adult care home worker)
Some participants described poor working conditions including long shifts and extended hours – often caused by understaffing:
- “I mean the problem at the minute is staff are overworked and underpaid. There's not enough support workers out there. There's high levels of sickness. Yeah, I don't know how that can be improved. Without ploughing money [in].” (Celia, support worker)
To achieve a healthier work life-balance, respondents described how conditions might improve given the right circumstances:
- “Less time in work. And [...] sticking more to the hours that we're employed to do. But again, that can't be done with the amount of workers we've got...” (Rhian, support worker)
Avoiding sick leave
A knock-on effect of absences on staffing levels is that social care workers may not feel like they can take time off work themselves or are not allowed if the need arises.
Out of all respondents, 45.92 per cent said they’d worked at least twice in the past year despite being so sick they should have taken sick leave. Some said they’d done this between two and five times (31.44 per cent), and 14.48 per cent admitted to doing it more than five times.
Only 27.44 per cent of people said they had never gone to work when they had been so sick they should have stayed home. This may be related to many social care workers not being eligible for paid sick leave (Social Care Wales, 2025a).
However, there was no increase reported of working while sick within groups of workers on insecure contracts with less access to paid sick leave. Managers (19.26 per cent) were most likely to have worked more than five times while sick.
Almost half of our survey respondents said they'd turned up for work multiple times when they should have stayed at home on sick leave
Lack of time
Participants highlighted being under immense pressure to complete tasks or training within specific timeframes and limited working hours:
“You always bear in mind the risks […] so sometimes when working with people, you want things done in a timely manner because you sort of don't want things to go on too long as situations can deteriorate or escalate, and so you are under a lot of time constraints to get things done by certain times.”
Lyla, support worker
“Even though they encourage us to complete the training during work hours, there’s just no time because I have my regular duties to focus on. The training comes with deadlines, but realistically, I can't do it during work. There's just no time. So, [I’m] expected to do it at home in my own time, and I don't get paid for that, but I'm doing work, so it's quite frustrating.”
Harry, care worker
When we asked open ended questions about pay and reimbursement we found that travel expenses were also a problem for respondents. We also discuss travel expenses in this year’s workforce insight series briefing on terms and conditions, available here: Improving terms and conditions for the social care workforce in Wales 2025.
In particular, people said they often didn’t have enough time to travel between clients and this meant travel time went unpaid:
- “One of the challenges we face is the limited time we’re given to travel between clients, since we do domiciliary care work. Sometimes we’re given only five minutes to travel a distance that actually takes 10 to 15 minutes. That pressure can lead us to speed, just to stay on time – because management will be calling, saying we're late for our calls.” (Tanya, domiciliary care worker)
Domiciliary care workers highlighted time allocations for each visit as a common source of frustration and stress. They said these imposed restrictions conflicted with how much care and attention they needed to provide:
- “The difficulty I find is sticking to time restrictions. They tell me I've got half an hour to go in, shower somebody, wash them, give them the breakfast, give them the medication. I can't do it and I won't do it. [...] Somebody might be really quick, jump in the shower and be fine. Somebody else, it's going to take me a lot longer. So be it. But that is the main difficulty, I find, is time restrictions. And then I'll get five minutes to do a 15-mile journey.” (Lisa, domiciliary care worker)
Feeling safe at work
While 62.47 per cent of all respondents said they felt safe in their role, 12.67 per cent said they didn’t feel safe. These numbers varied by job group. While 11.86 per cent of care workers and 12.4 per cent of managers said they felt unsafe at work, this rose significantly for social workers (18.09 per cent).
People in the focus groups and survey talked about physical safety in two different ways:
- how a lack of adequate training or resources could make their jobs physically dangerous
- the risk of being assaulted or harassed by people accessing care and support.
Training and resources
Many participants stressed that not having enough training and resources impacted on physical risk factors for both people delivering and accessing care and support:
“We were using a manual hoist with a 22-stone woman, which was hard on us physically, hard on her because she's being jolted a bit more because it's not as easy for us to turn it and stuff.”
Rhian, support worker
“So, it was about two years ago, so I was supporting a gentleman. He's very complex […] And as I was supporting, he fell back on me. So, his whole weight was on me, and I had the impact then of hitting my back on a shelf. […] I didn't feel that we had the right training to care for this gentleman. […] I didn't feel that we had the tools to care for him correctly.”
Dani, senior support worker
Participants said that training wasn’t practical or engaging enough, and it didn’t reflect real-life situations. E-learning options were described as too passive, failing to prepare them for the complexities of the job.
- “I think that Social Care Wales should implement Wales-wide face-to-face training. Everybody being trained in a room […] But everybody needs the same training within Wales. We all work to the five principles. We should be taught them. Medication: we should be taught it. You know, the right route, the right person, the right dose, the right time. People aren't being [provided with] face-to-face training. It's all online. And to me, that is where massive errors can occur. Anyone can watch a video, tick [a box] ‘Yeah, I watched that’.” (Lisa, domiciliary care worker)
Participants said they’d prefer a more practical, hands-on approach that included in person training, real life scenarios and on the job supervision:
- “Training, training, training, training. Because I, for one, have benefited from all the training. I mean, physical training […] Trust me: physical training, not online or YouTube training [which] doesn’t work… You may [...] get it [wrong] and just give up and fracture someone.” (Daisy, adult care home worker)
Risk of physical assault or harassment
Separately, some participants experienced physical aggression or threatening behaviour from individuals they support, particularly those with complex support needs. Some people also felt let down by a lack of resources or support:
- “I've been assaulted a couple of times. I've got scars on my arms from one of the assaults. No, it wasn't safe. And to be brutally honest, the company didn't really care.” (Simon, support worker)
Participants said they could better manage this risk when they’d had adequate training or they’d developed strong relationships with the people they support:
“He was so complex. He was double stoma’d [had two stomas] and he'd be lying in his faeces, getting up and he'd attack you, mind, and you'd have faeces on you. He weren't shy with that. You know, I only had that the once and I was very lucky with him in the sense of he didn't attack me, I bonded with him.”
Dani, senior support worker
“… client behaviour, threatening behaviour. I think sometimes that can be unnerving. However, if you've had the relevant training to know how to deal with that, then it's not so much of a problem.”
Liam, domiciliary care worker
Bullying, harassment, and discrimination
In our survey, we asked about people’s experiences of bullying, harassment, and discrimination. Reports of mistreatment – including bullying, discrimination, and harassment – were present across all respondent groups, but with social workers consistently reporting higher rates than other worker groups.
- 7.7 per cent of all respondents said they'd experienced bullying from managers or senior staff
- this rose to 11.06 per cent for social workers reporting bullying from managers or senior staff
- 7.36 per cent said they'd experienced discrimination from managers and senior staff (for social workers this rose to 10.13 per cent)
- 7.4 per cent said they'd experienced bullying from colleagues
- 5.35 per cent said they'd experienced discrimination from colleagues.
Some participants described experiencing discriminatory or inappropriate behaviour from the individuals they supported:
- “I think a few years back there was one gentleman I went to. And he was a little bit, could I say, touchy feely? Well, you know, he... I don't know whether he... I can't remember if he had dementia or if he … just [had] a mental health issue. I can't. But he was... he was a little bit... saying... what's the word? I can't think of the word... unsuitable sort of comments.” (Jody, support worker)
Reported incidents included racist remarks, sexualised comments, and a general sense of being disrespected due to their background or identity:
- “There’s been a little bit of racism, mostly from clients. It doesn’t happen often, just occasionally. But there was one time when it got quite bad. That incident was reported, and it was dealt with.” (Gloria, care worker)
Participants shared the emotional impact of discrimination, which was worsened by a lack of support from colleagues or management:
- “We have people like that, you always find them everywhere, they don’t want the Black people to take care of them, you know. […] Something happened two weeks ago at work and I felt pained. […] one of my colleagues was trying to tell me to take a resident up for personal care and to put him to bed. So, and this resident doesn’t like Black people to take care of him. […] I went to him and he was like, “F*** off”. He sent me away.[…] So definitely [the manager was] trying to push me to the man intentionally […].since then, I'm not happy going to work. Anytime I'm going to work, I feel sad.” (Frank, support worker)
Being supported and valued
When asked about how supported they felt in general, most respondents said they had always or mostly had good support from managers (72.64 per cent) and peers (80.72 per cent). The majority (82.77 per cent) reported positive morale. Similarly, respondents suggested they felt valued by managers (67.78 per cent), colleagues (78.08 per cent), and the individuals and families they support (80.54 per cent). But fewer felt valued by partner agencies (56.27 per cent) and the general public (50.32 per cent) (Social Care Wales, 2025a).
The perception within the workforce that the general public don’t value their work contrasts with some data we have on the public perception of social care. In a 2023 survey of 1000 members of the general public, 72 per cent of people said they had confidence in people working in social care (Social Care Wales, 2023a).
Most people reported their morale was high and the majority said they felt well supported by managers and colleagues. Fewer felt they were valued by the general public or colleagues in other organisations
People working in social care said their feelings of safety were strongly impacted by the amount of support they received from their organisations. Some people said they had access to support and this had helped them to feel safer at work (Social Care Wales, 2025a).
However, participants also described how poor working conditions directly and negatively impacted on their mental health and how valued they felt. These conditions included things like long hours, lack of recognition, inflexible scheduling, and being made to feel replaceable, which left many feeling drained, unsupported, and low:
- “I've been off work now since November […] My company haven't even phoned me. […] They have filled my post. I haven’t even had a courtesy call after 10 years of giving my life to them […] even just to say, ‘Look [Dani], this is just temporary while you were in that’. I have had nothing. So that made me feel, well, annoyed. That, and especially like not a, ‘how are you?’. Do you know what I mean? [...] So I've been through all the emotions with it. I've been annoyed. I've been upset.” (Dani, senior support worker)
How valued people feel can also impact on how people do their jobs, as one participant expressed:
- “When a carer has been appreciated. When a carer is happy, definitely you will know because it will reflect on his job […] You know, you’ll see him chatting with the resident, you’ll see him playing with the resident […] definitely he or she will do more. Yes, and it will reflect on what he or she is doing for the resident.” (Frank, support worker)
Speaking up about things
Several participants said they’d like to have more opportunities available for people to share their experiences safely, without fear of judgement or putting themselves at risk of negative consequences:
“I think a lot of people are afraid to speak up […] if you speak up you might be put on the let's move along line, you know?”
Dani, senior support worker
“But there's also a case of support workers are scared to really put these views across, at risk of them being looked at...”
Rhian, support worker
Many participants described a top-down culture that contributed to feeling unsupported. Some felt that feedback was all one way, with no mechanism for staff to provide feedback on management:
“I just think that Social Care Wales should try to […] find a way of reaching out to carers and let them give […] a report about their managers, about their leadership. …] Let them to be assessed by people they are leading. To […] know if this person is a good leader or a bad leader. […] if you assess workers under you, they will assess you too. If you're saying a bad thing concerning an employee […] definitely you as the leader, you're doing something wrong.”
Frank, support worker
“I just feel like there should be a wider open space for people to be able to vent this and speak about it. They should be able to say things without feeling it could jeopardise their jobs.”
Dani, senior support worker
International workers felt they were particularly vulnerable because their visas require sponsorship from an employer. They said that depending on an employer left them more exposed to poor treatment. They reported, for example, being threatened with their employer sponsorship when they complained about things.
- “Then the other challenges I faced: they give me like 15 minutes for a client with Parkinsons [...] I had to call […] 999 to come and pick up the client. So, sometimes the ambulance will come maybe later, approximately one hour and more. Then we'll be facing a challenge whereby they will be cancelling the following calls. Then you [don’t get] paid. But we used to get paid for that. If you ask them, just because we are sponsored workers from abroad, they will [be] threatening us [with] cancelling the sponsorship.” (Tanya, domiciliary care worker)
Having a positive team culture
Some participants said mistakes weren’t tolerated at their workplace and that there was a blame culture in social care. They felt that social care workers are often criticised instead of being offered the right support:
- “Yeah, I've heard stories of people being suspended over incidents, receiving warning letters and being questioned. Of course, mistakes can happen, but often it's not about negligence. For example, if a student kicks off, we're expected to maintain safety – not just for the student, but for everyone else too. But at the same time, we're told not to distress the student. So, while trying to prevent them from harming themselves or damaging property, we're also expected to 'just let them be'. It’s confusing. If I try to step in, I might be blamed for escalating things. If I don’t, I’m blamed for not acting. It feels like you're always at risk of being blamed, no matter what you do.” (George, support worker)
Some participants also felt that the care sector was becoming too commercial and that this was seen as more important than the needs of the workforce and the people they support. They described feeling that they were not heard or valued by decision makers:
- “I feel like within that [care] service, it's very much a financial gain. […] I don't feel like anywhere really cares. I think it's all a business-orientated money-making thing where budgets are more important than the person.” (Carys, support worker)
To redress the balance, participants said positive team dynamics shaped their overall experience of work. They highlighted the importance of having a supportive manager and team around them, which helped them to deal with the emotional pressures of the work. Workers who felt that they were part of a strong team said they were more likely to feel valued, understood, and able to cope with challenges:
“I think my team, teammates, people I work with are excellent people. We are always there for each other. We are there to support one another. I think the team manager, she's very supportive, like always looking out for you.”
George, support worker
“Again, I think it's my team. If I was in another team where perhaps they weren't so close-knit and supportive, I might think differently. But I think because I know that whenever I need support, if I need a shoulder to lean on, there's always somebody there. We all have a similar age and similar backgrounds, so I think the team dynamic is huge. We've kind of got a mantra of 'team first, person second', so whatever you're doing, you're always mindful that this is for the team as well, it's not just you.”
Mark, principal social worker
A positive team culture also contributed to well-being in the workplace:
“I suppose I'm fortunate that I've never kind of had to access [mental health support]. I mean, I'm not [saying] there might not have been a time where I would. But I mean maybe, maybe that's the proof in the pudding as well, that, you know, because of the support I have, I don't need to access those things.”
Mark, principal social worker
“I've heard of other homes, even under the same council, that people love to go there to work, especially our agency staff. [...] ‘Do you work at, do you know this home?’ I said yes, but I've not been there. ‘Oh, God. If you work there, their staff are so nice. They work together, you know?’. That's teamwork. If there is teamwork, if there's unity, you know, you won't feel it. No one will feel the workload. No one will feel stressed once there is teamwork.”
Frank, support worker
The role of supportive managers
Participants described how supported they felt at work and their relationship with their managers. Many described their managers as approachable, supportive and responsive:
“[…] the time I reported about the issue of discrimination, yeah, they were really there for me.” Gloria, care worker
“I've got a very good line manager, very supportive.” Jody, support worker
Some gave examples of managers fostering positive cultures where teamwork, empathy, and shared values flourished.
“And as I said, you know, my manager is very team-orientated, and […] everybody knows each other inside out. You know, there's a lot of after-work stuff that goes on socially, and the kind of motto is ‘team first, me second’ [...] Any new starters coming into the team are introduced to that, and it becomes part of their ethos then.”
Mark, principal social worker
“Everything still depends on, boils down to having a good leader. Because I think if you have a good manager, you should, he or she should, be able to like speak to everyone, that, ‘Okay, yeah, we are working as a team’. And you should be able to understand that everyone has their own feelings.”
Frank, support worker
Some people’s experiences were not as positive and led them to feel less well supported. They described managers who lacked emotional awareness or were not as approachable.
- "Another challenge I’ve faced is mistreatment from management. For example, when I raised a concern about a team leader following me during my visits, there was an incident where they started searching through my bag while I was with a client. I went to the kitchen to grab something, and when I came back, that was happening. I reported it to the top manager and referenced the workers’ guide. But her response was, 'Oh, I trust my management downstairs’, which made me feel like I wasn’t really part of the company" (Tanya, domiciliary care worker)
Some participants raised the point that managers needed to have training that helped them understand their staff better and build stronger, more compassionate relationships with their teams:
- “...if there's anything Social Care Wales [c]ould do to just make [the] life of employees better. they should let them know that their employees […].have feelings. […] I see people getting scared. ‘The manager’s around, the manager’s around’. And that means the manager is doing something […] that is not right […]. they should try to let them know that: ‘Try to be friendly to them. [...] You are superior to them but be friendly, call them, speak to them’, ‘How do you find the job? Hope you don't have, you are not having any challenges? [...] What do you think I can do to make you enjoy the job?’” (Frank, support worker)
Changes that could support health and well-being
One open-ended question in the survey asked respondents what changes could be made to their role in order to support their health and well-being.
Three main themes emerged from the responses to this question.
Staffing levels
The most frequently discussed theme was around staffing levels. This included whether there was sufficient staffing for workers to perform their duties:
- “Having enough staff on duty will help me relax as there will not be too much work or pressure on me.”
- “We are all overworked, too many calls.”
Pay
Some respondents suggested that their pay was too low to meet their needs and reflect what was required of them:
- “Pay needs to be raised… it’s not covering costs.”
- “Better pay to reflect the responsibilities we undertake.”
Better support from management
Respondents said they wanted to feel listened to by their managers, and have their opinions respected and supported.
They said this was particularly important because their roles were stressful. When they felt a lack of managerial support this negatively impacted on their well-being:
- “To be listened to by my manager and my opinion valued.”
- “Social care workers need double looking after… it drains out emotionally and physically.”
References -
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