Unequal Pay – When the Care Sector Divides Us

There’s growing frustration across the sector, and it’s not hard to see why.

Many care providers are now hiring overseas staff on visa sponsorships—and while we absolutely welcome our colleagues from abroad, a worrying trend is emerging: visa workers are often being paid more than British-born staff doing the exact same job.

It’s not their fault—it’s the fault of a system that’s treating care workers as separate classes of employee. It’s causing division, low morale, and an overwhelming sense of injustice.

We should be standing side by side with our colleagues, no matter where we’re from. But how can we, when some are valued more than others by the very organisations that rely on all of us?

This isn’t just about pay—it’s about fairness, dignity, and the need for a collective voice. Carers from all backgrounds need to speak together, not against each other, because the real issue is the system that undervalues all of us.

The Carers Companion is about unity. If we let ourselves be divided, our voices are easier to ignore. But when we come together, we’re impossible to dismiss.