Care at Home facts and statistics: covering the number of providers, service users & the workforce and how the market is continuing to grow, year on year.

The number of people receiving care in their homes in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland has been growing steadily mainly due to better medicine, more exercise and improved nutritional understanding.

People need extra care and support in their homes for a variety of reasons, such as old age, physical disability, dementia or sensory impairment. Moving out of your home to receive care is a huge step, and many prefer to remain where they feel the most comfortable: In their own home, in their own surroundings, with all their own things, as the Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt said at the Caremark National Conference 2021 recently to the 110 franchised business owners: “It’s much more humane to stay at home, it’s what all of us want for ourselves and our loved ones.”

This article contains the most up-to-date statistics on the UK’s adult social health care sector, including:

• The number of people receiving home care
• The number of home care providers/agencies
• The number of care workers providing domiciliary care

How many home care providers are there in the UK?

There are just over 10,100 home care providers in the UK which are registered and regulated by their country’s regulatory body, such as the CQC in England and due to demand this is expanding all the time.

• England: 8,891
• Wales: 381
• Scotland: 759
• Northern Ireland: 72
• UK total: 10,113

Figures correct as of Monday 19 April 2021. Data gathered from homecare.co.uk which lists all home care providers registered with their country’s regulatory body.

How many people receive home care in the UK?

The number of people receiving domiciliary care in the UK is more than 950,000*.

• England: 814,000 (2020) – source: National Audit Office
• Wales: 28,596 (2018/19) – source: StatsWales
• Scotland: 91,810 (2019/20) – source: Public Health Scotland
• Northern Ireland: 23,425 (2019/20) – source: Department of Health
• UK total: 957,831

^{*There is no UK-wide dataset as each country is responsible for its own data collection. This means there are discrepancies in the ways data is collected and reported. The above figures should be viewed as estimates.}

How many people work in home care?

The UK domiciliary care workforce totals nearly 823,000*.

• England: 715,000 (2019/20) – source: Skills for Care
• Wales: 21,421 (2018) – source: Social Care Wales
• Scotland: 71,340 (2019) – source: Scottish Social Services Council
• Northern Ireland: 15,200 (2018) – source: Skills for Care
• UK total: 822,961

^{*There is no UK-wide dataset as each country is responsible for its own data collection. This means there are discrepancies in the ways data is collected and reported. The above figures should be viewed as estimates.}

UK home care forecast

In the years to come, the demand for adult social care is projected to increase significantly, largely due to the UK’s ageing population.

The Department of Health & Social Care (DHSC) predicts that 57 per cent more adults aged 65 and over in England will require care in 2038 compared to 2018. The percentage increase projected for adults aged between 18 and 64 over the same period is 29 per cent, according to a report published by the National Audit Office (NAO).

Commenting on this growth, the Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt also told the Caremark Franchise owners earlier this year: “You are in the middle of one of the biggest trend lines in terms of the way society is changing; because of the way our population is growing older.”

More people in need of care means that there must be more people to provide care. To find out more around how you could be heading up your very own Caremark franchised business, with full training and ongoing support all the way, then please click below. Caremark are a full member of the British Franchise Association and are the biggest wholly UK owned and run domiciliary care franchisor, with a demonstrable history of franchise success in the sector dating back to 2005.