Can we afford to care? The future health of social care

The combination of rising demand, reduced funding and increasing costs stemming from the National Living Wage are set to put an already stretched social care sector under further strain.

What additional public funding is needed to maintain social care provision in its current form over the parliament and beyond? Could closer health integration create efficiencies and routes out of low pay for staff?  And what is the cost of inaction to providers, workers and patients?

At an event in Westminster, the Resolution Foundation presented new analysis of the public investment needed to pay the National Living Wage across different areas of social care. An expert panel then discussed the future funding of social care, followed by a Q&A.