£13.21 National Living Wage lifts care pay from April 2027, fees unsettled

A 50p an hour pay increase for most frontline care workers

Most frontline care workers will be paid more from 1 April 2027. The National Living Wage for workers aged 21 and over increases by 3.9% (50p) to £13.21 an hour, after the Government accepted the Low Pay Commission's advice in full (opens in a new tab). The rates were published on 28 October 2026.

Most frontline care workers are paid at or close to the National Living Wage, so this floor sets their pay. It is a real increase for them, and it lands on care providers' largest cost line on a fixed date.

The National Living Wage is a legal minimum set by the UK Parliament and applies across the UK. It builds on a pay floor that has increased by more than half since 2019.

Pay increases in April. Fee rates have no date

The announcement does not say whether or when councils or the NHS will change the fee rates meant to cover care staff pay. Providers pay the higher rate from 1 April 2027 whatever happens to their fees.

That leaves operators budgeting for a fixed cost increase without knowing what income will come with it. Care is a labour-heavy business with thin margins, so a gap between the two shows up quickly.

Commissioners hold the other half of the problem. The pay increase reaches care workers through providers, and a provider whose biggest cost increases while its fee stays put is a provider under strain. The same gap between pay and the fees that fund it runs through our explainer on the Fair Pay Agreement for adult social care in England.

Younger staff, apprentices and live-in workers get new rates too

The entry-level rates increase by the same 3.9%. The rate for 18 to 20 year olds goes to £11.27 an hour, and the rates for 16 and 17 year olds and for apprentices both go to £8.31.

The maximum accommodation offset, the amount an employer can charge a worker for accommodation it provides, increases by 43p to £11.53 a day. That changes the net pay calculation for care workers whose employer provides lodging, including some live-in home care arrangements.

Providers with apprentices, younger staff or live-in workers need payroll updated for each of these rates by 1 April 2027, as well as the headline rate.

The rates are settled. The cost to care is not counted

The announcement does not say how many adult social care workers are paid at the National Living Wage, and it does not estimate the total cost to the sector.

The Low Pay Commission's full annual report, with its underlying evidence, is due in early 2027, after the rates were decided. Until then, providers and commissioners are setting budgets for a cost nobody has put a number on.

Care workers' pay increase has a date. The fee meant to pay for it does not.