SOCIAL CARE NEEDS A REBRAND: BROOK STREET CAMPAIGNS FOR REFORM OF THE SECTOR

• The £90 billion sector faces an identity crisis
• Brook Street is campaigning for action on pay, careers, leadership and professional recognition, in a new whitepaper

London (24.09.2026): The conversation around social care typically focuses on shortages, pressures and crises. While these challenges are real, they risk obscuring an important question: how do we build a sector that people actively choose to join, develop within and lead? That is the key theme of a campaign being launched today by Brook Street.

Calling for major reform of the social care sector, Brook Street, along with respected social care providers, argues that unless the sector tackles its identity crisis, strengthens career pathways and improves professional recognition, the sector will reach breaking point.

Social care currently employs around 1.6 million people, contributes almost £90 billion to the UK economy and underpins the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in society. Yet it is a sector that is struggling – not just with finances and staffing – but its own identity.

Teresa Wilson, Operations Director, Brook Street Social Care, says: “Social care has an identity crisis. It is hugely misunderstood, not only in terms of the breadth of what the sector does, but also the opportunities available for a rewarding and fulfilling career. If these issues aren’t addressed, then there simply won’t be enough people to meet the demands of the sector.”

While recruitment shortages, retention challenges and financial pressures continue to affect providers across the UK, policy reform alone will not be enough. Social care needs a new story; one that reflects the scale and value of the sector, elevates its professional identity and showcases the career opportunities it offers.

Raising pay must go hand-in-hand with changing how social care is perceived and valued. Improving training must include improving leadership. Increasing domestic recruitment means creating visible career pathways and ensuring people see care as a profession where they can build long-term, meaningful and rewarding careers.

Wilson continues: “In England there are 111,000 vacancies in adult social care alone. At the same time, there are deep-rooted youth unemployment issues in the UK*. The social care sector has a great opportunity to tackle part of this problem. However, if social care wants to attract the next generation of talent, we need to show that it is not simply one job type. It is a profession where people can build diverse, ambitious and impactful careers across a wide range of areas from supporting children and adults through to the homeless.”

As part of this campaign, Brook Street, proposes six calls to action, designed to strengthen the sector’s identity, improve workforce sustainability and support long-term growth:  

• A sector-wide rebranding programme
• A fully funded Fair Pay Agreement
• A national career and leadership framework
• A digital inclusion strategy for the workforce
• Regulatory modernisation
• Visa and immigration stabilisation.

Read more about Brook Street’s campaign for reform in the whitepaper, Rebuilding UK Social Care: Stronger identity, stronger careers, stronger futures, here.

ENDS

*One in eight young people not in work or education – BBC News