Rising fuel costs are being felt across the country. For adult social care workers, a workforce of nearly two million people already among the lowest paid in the UK, that pressure does not land equally. It lands on a workforce already navigating chronically low wages, high vacancy rates, and growing clinical responsibilities that are rarely matched by pay or recognition. The Care Workers’ Charity has spent years documenting the compounding pressures on this workforce. Today, we are adding fuel costs to that picture, because the people delivering care to some of the most vulnerable people in the UK are, in many cases, spending money they do not have simply to get to work.
Our report, based on survey responses from 136 paid adult social care workers, sets out what that means in practice.
80.88% use their personal vehicles every day. These are not workers who can work from home or switch to public transport. They are in people’s homes, covering the distances that keep our care system functioning. 99.26% noticed an increase in fuel costs. This is not a workforce unaware of the pressures bearing on them, they are living with them.
The impact on their ability to deliver care is direct and measurable. 52.94% said rising fuel costs are significantly impacting their ability to carry out their role. A further 30.88% said they are affected to some degree. Only 2.94% said they were not affected at all.
The financial consequences reach well beyond the forecourt. 72.06% of respondents reported a significant impact on their personal finances. Our own 2025 Care Worker Wellbeing Survey, completed by over 2,000 care workers, already found that 72.1% do not feel financially secure despite the majority being on full-time contracts. Fuel costs are not the origin of that insecurity, they are accelerating it.
Care workers told us what this looks like day to day:
“I’m putting fuel on credit cards as I can’t afford it now.”
“I had to cut my days and couldn’t afford to work full-time due to petrol costs. The stress of this has affected my health.”
Employer reimbursement is not filling the gap. Nearly a third of respondents, 30.88%, receive no reimbursement at all. Of those who do receive it, not one respondent said it adequately covers what they spend.
The workforce consequence is one the sector cannot absorb. 53.68% of respondents said rising fuel costs had already influenced decisions about their working patterns, including reducing shifts, changing roles, or considering leaving the sector. Every person who reduces their hours or leaves because they cannot afford to stay is a loss the sector will feel.
Care workers responding to our survey are clear about what would help. They are asking for higher mileage reimbursement, more stable and localised rotas, and better access to alternative transport options. These are not complex demands. They are the minimum conditions that would allow skilled, committed professionals to continue doing their jobs without subsidising the system from their own pockets.
Karolina Gerlich, CEO of The Care Workers’ Charity, said: “Care workers are among the lowest paid workers in the country. They are taking on increasingly complex responsibilities. And now, many are spending money they do not have on fuel just to reach the people they support, often with no reimbursement and no acknowledgement that this is happening. The Care Workers’ Charity is calling on employers to review mileage reimbursement rates as an immediate priority, and on commissioners and Government to recognise that workforce retention cannot be achieved while the basic costs of doing this job continue to fall on the workers themselves. Care workers deserve to be supported, not subsidised into staying.”
The full report, The Impact of Fuel Costs on Care Workers, is available at – https://www.thecareworkerscharity.org.uk/news/care-workers-are-funding-the-care-system-from-their-own-pockets-it-has-to-stop/
