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Adult social care in England is one of the hardest, lowest-paid jobs in the country, holding up a system that governments of both main parties call "broken" – yet keep declining to fix. The average care worker is paid close to the legal minimum, and the sector's vacancy rate is three times the national average.
Into that vacancy vacuum, the post-Brexit Tory government opened the Skilled Worker visa route. Arrivals surged. Care workers became the single biggest group on the visa, and the UK suddenly hit RECORD NET MIGRATION! Over 900,000 in 2023.
The headlines went wild. That peak became a political weapon.
The state's response was not to fix pay or funding in the care sector. It was to squeeze the very workforce it had just imported. Care workers lost the right to bring family over. Sponsor licenses were sweepingly revoked, and thousands of workers were left stranded, often laden with recruitment debt, given no recourse to public funds.
The media ignored the human costs of the cull they cheered on.
In this episode, Mathilda and Helena are joined by two carers - Clementina Odih Okozi and Georgia Edwards - to find out the real causes of the "crisis" in care.
This episode is hosted and produced by Mathilda Mallinson (@mathildamall) and Helena Wadia (@helenawadia)
It was edited by Christy Callaway-Gale
The music is by @soundofsamfire
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