We want your services but not your family: a case for the migrant care worker

In a research briefing published last November, the House of Commons reported the significant contributions of migrant care workers to the care workforce in England. From 2021/2022 to 2022/2023, about 11,000 redundant spaces were filled. Incidentally, in this same period, the number of British workers had reduced by 20,000. Researchers have argued that the social care sector is unattractive to the British workforce because of its pay and working hours. 

A nurse arrives at a patient's house in the North East of England, showing her ID card. She is a home caregiver. Credit: SolStock

While the British government considers policies to boost the British workforce in not just the care sector but in all industries, the demand for care workers in adult and social care is still dire and is projected to increase. As an aging society, the population of seniors aged 80 and over in the UK is expected to double from 2.7 million to 5.4 million by 2031. With these figures in mind, it seems the British public will continue to rely on the services of migrant care workers, who currently make up 17% of the care sector. 

Meanwhile, migrant care workers continue to yield favorable returns to the care workforce. In 2018, the New Economics Foundation released a report describing the economic benefits of recruiting care workers overseas. According to this report, migrant care workers contribute £4.4bn annually to the British economy. They noted that redundancies can create a daily deficit of £17mn. 

These benefits seem to be overshadowed by a growing British sentiment against migration. Last year, net migration into the UK was about 678,000, with non-EU nationals making more than 60% of this figure. According to a report by the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, 52% of British respondents wanted a reduction in migrant numbers. Interestingly, 54% of these respondents wanted easier migration for social care workers. This love-hate relationship with migrant social workers is all too glaring in the recent visa changes scheduled to come into effect this Spring.

The proposed changes will deny entry into the UK for care workers’ dependents. While the minimum threshold salary of the skilled worker visa will increase by over 50%, the minimum wage for health and care workers will remain the same, but with a clause that they can’t bring in their dependents. In a bid to cut down net migration while optimizing its benefits, the UK government has willfully or unintentionally ignored certain realities. 

British Border Control Sign View Credit: LIVINUS

First, there is evidence that remuneration isn't the only reason health workers migrate from the global South to the global North. Better working and living conditions are the top drivers of migration. Researchers have argued that non-monetary factors have a more significant impact on a health worker’s decision to migrate. This argument holds for countries in Sub-Saharan Africa with greater economic and political instability. Ergo, care workers are more likely to migrate with their families than to migrate alone. 

Second, family has a significant impact on work-life balance. The Covid Era made this even more relevant. These days, people prefer remote working, a 4-day workweek, and other hybrid options, all in an attempt to balance time with their family and work. By preventing care workers from migrating with their families, the UK government is inadvertently asking: your family or your job, you choose. 

Third, in light of the English past notoriety for slavery and colonialism, one cannot ignore the similarities between this policy and White slave traders' legacy of separating enslaved families. When you put it in the context of the unattractive nature of social care to the British workforce, the prejudice is all too apparent. As this British Instagram user uncouthly puts it, “We don’t want any bloody foreigners…..unless they are caring for us and wiping our arses.” 

“By preventing care workers from migrating with their families, the UK government is inadvertently asking: your family or your job, you choose.”

The healthcare market is a unique one. Equity is prioritized over efficiency, and utility is usually measured in non-monetary units. If the government wishes to make concessions for those on the health and care visa because of the demands for health care in the UK, then a full concession should be made, and care workers should be allowed to bring in their families. If a full concession can't be made, the requirements for the skilled worker and health and care visas should be the same. The minimum threshold salary for care workers should be increased, and employers should source for British talent. 

There is an Igbo proverb that says: Igwe bu ike: unity is strength. Migrant care workers deserve to be with their families. They deserve to draw strength from the unity this closeness provides. Above all, their families should be weighted with as much relevance as their services to the British population.