Carer Salary Report 2023 – How top carers can earn £60k/yr+!

Each year at PrimeCarers, we put together our annual carer salary report that looks into how much Carers on the platform earn. The following numbers are taken from our 2022 records, and we’ve used take-home pay (post fees) for all the numbers you see.

Over the last year, carers have started making more money than many in the UK. The average take-home pay for live-in carers on PrimeCarers in 2022 was £131.76 a day, slightly more than what they were getting last year. This starkly contrasts the rest of the UK, which saw the average person’s wage fall in 2022. Carers who work long hours now make around £13.91 an hour, which is a fair bit more than before and hourly carers are making about £14.62 each hour, which is also more than last year.

One of our core goals at PrimeCarers is to ensure that carers get paid fairly. That’s why it’s nice to see so many carers on the platform making good incomes for themselves and their families. Good and Reliable carers can earn more than £45,000 a year, whilst our top earner in 2022 made over £66,000.

So, let’s take a closer look at how much our carers made in 2022 in our second report on carer salaries.

Check out last year’s report.

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Live-in Care Salaries

Both hourly and live-in carers work via the PrimeCarers platform. However, it is only Live-in carers from whom we likely have the full annual earnings data. Our average take-home (after fees) rate for live-in carers in 2022 was:

£131.76/day in 2022, from £127.71/day in 2021 a 3.2% growth

Across a 40-week working year, which means you are working is about 3 weeks out of 4, this is a take-home pay of £36,983/yr on average. That figure puts the average live-in carer on PrimeCarers well above the median (middle person) household income of £32,300/yr. However, there are a few factors that we should consider:

1. Self-employed work can be unstable, so a greater portion of this should be saved
2. Live-in carers are away from home for weeks at a time
3. Live-in carers are on-call 24/7 whilst on the job
4. Live-in carers often incur the costs of travelling to and from placements

On the other hand, food is often provided while on duty. In addition, private carers may reduce their tax liabilities by deducting certain direct costs associated with their work from their taxes; phones and phone bills, computers, clothing, travel, and the maintenance of home offices, etc, can significantly lower their overall tax bill.

Hourly Care Salaries

Long Shifts (6 hours or more): £13.91/hr in 2022 from £12.99/hr in 2021 a 7.1% growth

Short Shifts (Less than 6 hours): £14.62/hr in 2022 from £13.90/hr in 2021 a 5.2% growth

When we look at the real living wage for London of £11.95, we’ve beaten it by 17.5% for long and 25% for shorter shifts. Beating the real living wage is important because it gives carers a buffer for the intermittent nature of care work and the cost of travelling between jobs.

Top Earner

We have several carers earning over £45,000 a year on PrimeCarers, with our top carer taking home just over £66,000 in 2021.

Carers can earn higher salaries in a variety of ways:

• By taking fewer breaks – Most live-in carers opt for 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off or 3 weeks on 1 week off arrangement, but carers can earn more for longer placements or by working 5-6 days a week.
• By working complex jobs – Some clients are willing to pay higher rates for carers with more specialist skills or that are looking after a couple.

Strategies to earn more

There are a few things you can do to make yourself worth more:

1. Training: Get yourself up to date with the latest certificates and training. See here for details.
2. Learn how to handle difficult patients and clients: This one is huge; if you can keep your cool, diffuse and de-escalate situations effectively, you will be worth your weight in gold.
3. Be reliable: If you can prove that you will always show up, rain or shine, clients will stay with you and will even accept wage increases.
4. Dress the part: Wearing appropriate clothing is also important; clients probably won’t mention it; they will just get rid of you.
5. Have great professional photos: You will get more opportunities on PrimeCarers and other platforms by having great professional photos.
6. Be flexible: Being available for clients when they need you is incredibly valuable to clients. So, make sure they know what flexibility you have to assist them beyond your regular hours.

Conclusion

It is clear that carers, especially those who work privately, can earn good money, and whilst that isn’t the primary motivation to do the job, it certainly helps when times get tough. This is great news, especially when most people in the UK don’t see their incomes rise. There is also the additional benefit that you have more control over how much you make and when you work when you are a private carer. That’s a big win in our books!

his increase isn’t just about numbers; we believe that this shows that people are starting to value carers more. It is about time. The problem comes when agencies eat up this increase and profit off it, costing care seekers and the government money that they don’t have. Working privately allows you to avoid this trap.

If you are thinking about taking control of your pay and hours by becoming a private carer, head to https://primecarers.co.uk/carer and sign up with PrimeCarers!