Because of the number of elderly and disabled residents in the UK who need full-time care, there are many carers who come from other parts of the world. These include places like Africa, South Asia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
While some of these carers are highly qualified professionals, many of them have had to accept poorly paid positions because they find it difficult to find placements in their chosen professions in the UK.
Care workers provide a vital service to the aging population of the UK, yet often their voices are not heard or ignored.
A recent documentary interviewed some care workers and heard their stories.
Once a lecturer in Economics at the Damascus University, Ziad was forced to flee the war in Syria. Ziad now lives in London where he is a refugee. Worse, he is unable to find work in any university and has become a carer to an elderly gentleman, a Pakistani Muslim who has suffered several strokes.
Vedah made the move to become a care worker, after serving as a nurse in Zambia. She says that she changed careers because the placement offered her a chance to relocate to the UK.
Although she has been a victim of racism from some clients, Vedah still enjoys her work. Her greatest reward is to put a smile on the face of a client.
Yet another immigrant told how she had left her children behind when she came to the UK 13 years ago. Magda, originally a music therapist in Poland, said that she could not find work in her own country, so she decided to make the move to Britain.
Magda became a carer, and now works in a highly demanding position, leaving her little time for her own life.
Figures show that around 20% of adult social care workforce comes from outside the UK. This includes other European countries, the British Commonwealth and further afield.
Non-British care workers make a substantial contribution to the wellbeing of anyone who makes use of care services.
Of all the non-British care workers, the majority work in direct care roles, namely in care homes, domiciliary services or nurses.
Most of the care workers who come from other countries agree that the biggest downside of the placements they take is that they miss contact with others. Caring for other people leaves them little time for a personal life, and family are often left behind for several months at a time.
Yet another challenge that care workers face is abuse of some sort. Whether it is simply name calling, or becomes more radical and involves physical actions such as hair pulling and being kicked, care workers are often the butt of racist slurs because of their color and religion.
There are very few care workers from abroad who will not have cases where they have been the target of racism. These instances are more than likely never reported for fear of finding themselves out of a job.
Of course, there is always an issue of care workers being underpaid, and this is often overlooked by employers and clients. Most care workers admit they are not paid to transport clients to and from hospitals, neither are they paid when a client is admitted to hospital, although they will be expected to visit daily.
Most care workers are on the lower end of the pay scale, with live-in care staff sometimes earning around £500 per week for 24/7, before deductions.
Care workers are often on zero-contracts so may have plenty of work one week, and none the next week, leaving them with no job security.
After Covid-19?
How does the UK stand with available care workers in the future? This is certainly a huge topic while the coronavirus is keeping both clients and care workers at home.
The biggest cause of disability right now is dementia with the rates predicted to increase by 49% for people over 65 with the condition. This means that by 2025 the number of people with dementia will stand at 699,000 compared to 468,000 in 2015.
The UK must now accept that unless drastic measures are taken as soon as possible, the older generation, and all those who need care assistance will be faced with a future where there are simply not enough people to take care of them.
Perhaps what is needed is a whole new approach to foreign care workers who come to the UK to take care of our parents. Perhaps there should be more consideration and fairness shown to these people, with less abuse, racial or otherwise, so that they can do their job and be fully appreciated for it.
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