The short answer
- Most carers nationally are paid close to the legal floorMedian independent-sector care worker pay was £12.60 an hour in December 2025, close to the £12.71 National Living Wage that arrived four months later. A carer you hire directly sets their own rate instead.
- Conditions matter as much as the rateRushed visits and unpaid travel time are among the most common reasons given for leaving care work. An hour is the shortest visit you can book on PrimeCarers.
- A carer you hire directly is self-employed, not employed by usThey set their own rate, are not entitled to statutory sick pay or paid holiday, and answer to you for the visits you have agreed together.
- National change is coming, but slowlyA legal power to negotiate a sector-wide Fair Pay Agreement for care workers is now law, but no agreement has been negotiated yet, and the earliest one is expected to apply from 2028. It will not set what a carer you hire directly charges you.
This page covers pay and treatment for paid carers, and what already applies when you find and pay one directly through PrimeCarers. It does not cover benefits for family members caring unpaid, which is a separate subject.
Our position
Why fair treatment for carers is part of arranging good care
The carer who looks after your parent is not abstract to this. Whether they are paid fairly, work in conditions that do not wear them down, and feel their experience is recognised shapes whether they stay in the work, and whether your parent sees the same face at the door next year as this one.
Most of the other guides on caring for a parent are about the day-to-day of arranging care. This one looks at what sits underneath it: how carers are treated across the sector, and what already applies to the carer you find and pay yourself.
PrimeCarers is built around carers who choose their own hours, set their own rate and work directly for the families who book them, once we have checked their identity, right to work and an enhanced DBS. Speaking up for fair pay and decent working conditions across the wider sector is part of what that model is meant to stand for.
Four things make up most of what people mean by fair treatment at work: being paid properly, working in conditions that do not wear a person down over time, having their experience recognised, and having somewhere to be heard if something goes wrong. The table below sets out what each one means, and what is already within your control when you find and pay a carer yourself rather than through an agency or a council contract.
Fair pay
Why it matters
A carer's pay affects whether they can afford to keep doing this work, and whether the same person is still available for your parent next year.
When you hire a carer directly
You agree the rate directly with the carer you choose. Most carers on PrimeCarers set it above the legal minimum for the work they do.
Sustainable working conditions
Why it matters
Rushed visits and unpaid travel time are two of the most common reasons given for leaving care work altogether.
When you hire a carer directly
The shortest visit you can book on PrimeCarers is an hour, and any mileage is agreed with the carer in writing, at 55p a mile, before it is charged.
Recognition and development
Why it matters
Carers who feel their experience is recognised, and who can see a way to build on it, are more likely to stay in the work.
When you hire a carer directly
A carer's training and experience sit on their own profile, so ask about it directly. Checking identity, right to work and an enhanced DBS is our part; recognising their skill is yours.
Being heard
Why it matters
Care work has historically had fewer routes than most jobs for raising a problem or asking for better terms.
When you hire a carer directly
PrimeCarers introduces you to a carer and then steps back. How you treat each other, from a fair rate to plain thanks for a job well done, is not something a platform can set for you.
The rest of this page goes through each of the four in turn: where carer pay stands in 2026, what sustainable working conditions look like, how training and recognition work for a carer you hire directly, what being self-employed means in practice, who is campaigning for change nationally, and what treating a carer fairly looks like from your first booking onward.
The 2026 pay picture
What fair pay looks like in 2026
Most people employed in social care are paid close to the legal minimum wage. A carer who sets their own rate directly with your family is not bound by that floor, but it helps to know where it sits.
| Per hour | What it means | |
|---|---|---|
| National Living Wage, from April 2026 | £12.71 | The legal minimum for almost every worker aged 21 and over, including care workers employed by an agency or a council. |
| Median independent-sector care worker pay, December 2025 | £12.60 | Only 11p below the wage floor due to arrive four months later. |
| Carers on PrimeCarers | £18 to £25 | Set by the carer themselves, with our fee included, based on their own experience rather than a council contract or an agency margin. |
National Living Wage, from April 2026
- Per hour
- £12.71
- What it means
- The legal minimum for almost every worker aged 21 and over, including care workers employed by an agency or a council.
Median independent-sector care worker pay, December 2025
- Per hour
- £12.60
- What it means
- Only 11p below the wage floor due to arrive four months later.
Carers on PrimeCarers
- Per hour
- £18 to £25
- What it means
- Set by the carer themselves, with our fee included, based on their own experience rather than a council contract or an agency margin.
Figures for the wider workforce come from Skills for Care pay tracking data. PrimeCarers does not set what a carer charges you directly.
The full 2026 picture, including why councils commonly pay providers less than care costs to deliver, how the closure of the overseas care worker visa route affects the supply of carers, and what the incoming Fair Pay Agreement changes and when, is set out in addressing the underpayment of carers, the detailed companion to this page.
A traditional agency typically charges more for the same visit than a carer who sets their own rate directly with you. Private carers against agency carers sets out why, and what each price is meant to cover.
Working conditions
Why the conditions around a visit matter as much as the pay
A fair rate does not fix a working day that cannot be sustained. Short, rushed visits and unpaid travel between them are among the most common reasons given for leaving care work altogether.
What a sustainable visit looks like
- An hour as the shortest visit booked, so there is time to do the job properly
- Mileage agreed in writing before it is charged, not assumed afterwards
- Bank holidays paid at one and a half times the carer's normal rate, and Christmas Day at twice it, as the contract sets out
- The same carer kept on for the same visits, rather than swapped whenever a cheaper one appears
- Reasonable notice given if a visit needs to change or be cancelled
What tends to wear a carer down
- Fifteen or thirty minute calls that end before the job is finished
- Expecting a carer to travel between visits without agreeing who covers the cost
- Changing plans at short notice and expecting the carer to simply absorb it
- Treating a carer as interchangeable because several others are available nearby
The cost of delivering home care sustainably, covered in full in the pay guide linked above, treats travel time as a real cost rather than something a carer is expected to absorb for free. The same principle holds whether a carer works through a council contract or is booked directly by your family: the time between two visits is still the carer's time.
Keeping the same carer for the same visits, rather than swapping whenever a cheaper one appears, is also how your parent gets continuity. The same carer every visit explains why that consistency matters for your parent as much as it does for the carer.
Recognition and training
How training and experience are recognised in care work
PrimeCarers does not check a carer's qualifications or training, and we do not manage or supervise the care a carer gives. What we check is fixed: identity, right to work, an enhanced DBS check on the Update Service, and an online interview. Training, experience and references are things to ask a carer about directly.
Terms worth knowing
- The Care Certificate
- A set of 16 standards, developed by Skills for Care and Skills for Health, that a new care worker is expected to meet before working unsupervised. It is a sector benchmark rather than a legal requirement, and PrimeCarers does not check whether a carer holds it.
- DBS Update Service
- The service that keeps an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check current. Every carer on PrimeCarers is checked against it before appearing on the platform.
- References
- A carer's own record of past work, added to their profile at their choice. PrimeCarers does not verify references, so read them as background rather than as a check we have carried out.
- Skills for Care
- The workforce development body for adult social care in England. It sets the Care Certificate standards and tracks pay and turnover across the sector.
Asking a carer about their training is a normal part of choosing one, in the same way you would ask about their availability or their experience with a particular condition. A carer who has completed the Care Certificate, or who has years of experience with a condition like dementia or Parkinson's, is likely to say so unprompted, and it is a fair question to ask directly if they do not. Skills for Care publishes the full Care Certificate standards if you want to see what they cover.
Being self-employed
What self-employment means for the carer you hire directly
Carers on PrimeCarers are self-employed. That is a deliberate part of the model, not a loophole, and it changes what a family and a carer owe each other compared with an employer and an employee.
| An employed care worker | A carer you hire directly | |
|---|---|---|
| Who sets the rate | An employer or a council contract | The carer, agreed directly with you |
| Statutory sick pay | ||
| Paid holiday | ||
| National Insurance | Deducted by the employer | Pays Class 4 National Insurance themselves once profits pass £12,570 a year |
| Who they answer to | A line manager or a rota | You, for the visits you have agreed together |
Who sets the rate
- An employed care worker
- An employer or a council contract
- A carer you hire directly
- The carer, agreed directly with you
Statutory sick pay
- An employed care worker
- A carer you hire directly
Paid holiday
- An employed care worker
- A carer you hire directly
National Insurance
- An employed care worker
- Deducted by the employer
- A carer you hire directly
- Pays Class 4 National Insurance themselves once profits pass £12,570 a year
Who they answer to
- An employed care worker
- A line manager or a rota
- A carer you hire directly
- You, for the visits you have agreed together
gov.uk sets out the National Insurance a self-employed carer pays themselves once profits pass the threshold.
Being self-employed changes what a carer is owed, not whether they are treated well. It means a carer's rate reflects what they decide their time and experience are worth, rather than a margin set by someone else, and it means the notice periods in the contract work both ways: 48 hours for hourly care, or 7 days for live-in care once a carer has worked 168 hours with your family. It also means there is no statutory sick pay or paid holiday behind the arrangement, which is worth remembering if a carer needs time off: how that is handled is between you and them, not set by an employer's policy.
If money is tight for a carer between bookings, The Care Workers' Charity gives crisis grants to care workers facing a sudden loss of income or another emergency, whatever their employment status. Full detail on gov.uk covers what a self-employed carer pays themselves in National Insurance.
Who is campaigning
Who is pushing for fairer treatment of care workers nationally
A carer you find through PrimeCarers is self-employed, not an employee of ours or of an agency, so there is no employer for them to organise against. Most of the country's carers are employed somewhere, though, and it is worth knowing who speaks for them.
The Adult Social Care Negotiating Body
These bodies negotiate on behalf of employed carers. The rate a carer you hire directly through PrimeCarers charges you stays between you and the carer, agreed in writing before the first visit.
How to start
What treating a carer fairly looks like from the first booking
Fair treatment is not a separate step from arranging care. It is built into the same handful of decisions every family makes when they book a carer for the first time.
- 1
Write down what the visits involve
Before you searchA clear list of tasks and days helps a carer set a rate that reflects what the work involves, rather than guessing. - 2
Ask about experience and rate together
When you messageA carer's rate and their experience with your parent's needs go together. Ask about both rather than choosing on price alone. - 3
Agree the terms in writing before the first visit
Before bookingThe rate, mileage if any, and what happens on a bank holiday. Putting it in writing once avoids a difficult conversation later. - 4
Pay on time and give proper notice
Every weekGive 48 hours notice for hourly care, or 7 days for live-in care once a carer has worked a week with your family, and pay in full for visits already agreed if you need to cancel. - 5
Say when something has gone well
OngoingA carer who knows the arrangement is working is more likely to keep it going. A review on their profile helps other families find them too.
Questions
Questions families ask about carer pay and treatment
No. PrimeCarers is an introductory service that helps you find a carer and then steps back. Carers are self-employed, set their own rate, and agree the terms of each visit directly with you. We are not an agency, and we do not provide, manage or supervise the care itself.
From April 2026 the National Living Wage is £12.71 an hour for workers aged 21 and over, and it applies to almost every employed carer. It does not set what a self-employed carer charges you directly, though most carers on PrimeCarers price above it. Current rates on gov.uk.
Not as a legal requirement. Statutory sick pay and paid holiday apply to employees, not to someone who works for themselves. How a carer needing time off is handled is between the two of you, and it is worth agreeing it before it comes up rather than after.
It is a set of 16 standards, developed by Skills for Care and Skills for Health, that a new care worker is expected to meet before working unsupervised. It is a sector benchmark rather than a legal requirement, and PrimeCarers does not check whether a carer holds it. Asking directly is a fair question, in the same way you would ask about experience with a particular condition. The full standards are published by Skills for Care.
The contract sets bank holidays at one and a half times the carer's normal rate, and Christmas Day at twice it. Agreeing this before the first booking, alongside the ordinary hourly rate, avoids a difficult conversation on the day itself.
It is a new legal power to negotiate minimum pay and conditions for the whole social care sector in England, created by the Employment Rights Act 2025. It will not change what a carer you hire directly charges you, since that carer sets their own rate. The full timeline is covered in the companion guide to this page.
Carers on PrimeCarers are self-employed, so there is no employer to raise a concern with on their behalf. The Care Workers' Charity gives crisis grants to care workers facing a sudden loss of income or another emergency, whatever their employment status, and is worth passing on if a carer you work with mentions they are struggling.
Yes, whenever you both agree to it. There is no fixed contract to renegotiate: a rate is agreed between you and the carer, and either of you can raise a change at any time.
Yes. Caring for the caregiver covers looking after your own wellbeing while you arrange care for somebody else, and balancing work with caregiving covers the legal rights that help if you are also holding down a job.