Just when I imagined I couldn’t learn anything new about the often dreadful conditions that many of the people doing some of the most important and oftentimes challenging work imaginable - caring for other people and their needs - are subject to in the UK, I learn that the sector may be increasingly infused with actual slavery.
From The Guardian at the end of last year:
Post-Brexit restrictions on the free movement of workers from the EU have contributed to modern slavery becoming “a feature” of the care sector in England the Care Quality Commission has told MPs.
The Care Quality Commission made 4 referrals about modern slavery in the period of 2021-22, vs a predicted 50 by the end of the most recent year.
Unseen UK, an organisation that runs a modern slavery and exploitation hotline, reported that over 700 care workers called in 2022.
Unseen’s chief executive, Andrew Wallis, says the current approach has led to a rise in “labour abuse and exploitation” and is “a disaster” for many workers. “Very vulnerable people are being cared for by very vulnerable people,” he adds.
The University of Nottingham Rights Lab produced a report in 2022 that detailed what makes the conditions especially of migrant “live-in” care workers - those who stay in their client’s home around-the-clock - particularly vulnerable to these conditions.
- Employment status, business models, and the role of intermediaries
- Information asymmetry between care workers and intermediaries
- The emotionally and physically intensive nature of live-in care work, blurring of boundaries between work and private life
- Barriers to exercising rights at work: sick leave, time off, redundancy/notice, health and safety at work
- Individual risk and resilience factors
This isn’t the only driver by a long margin, but I can’t help but think that any scheme that makes your right to live in a country dependent on you doing whatever your employer demands of you is ripe for abuse. This of course isn’t limited to the care sector.