Children’s social care workers: minimum pay

The minimum rate of pay for children’s social care workers delivering direct care in Scotland increased from £12.60 to £13.45 per hour from April 2026. This is in line with pay rates for adult social care workers and with the Real Living Wage rate announced by the Living Wage Foundation in October 2025.

If you are eligible, your pay should be backdated and provided for all hours worked from April 2026. This includes all overnight shift hours, irrespective of whether you are awake or asleep.

If your pay has not increased, there is information below on what you should do.

Who is eligible

If you are providing direct care to vulnerable children in a private, independent or voluntary sector service commissioned by a local authority or integration authority, you should be getting paid at least £13.45 per hour.

 To be eligible you must be a registered worker in a Category 2 or 3 role, in the following commissioned services:

• secure accommodation
• care home services for children and young people, including those providing continuing care
• school care accommodation: residential special schools
• housing support
• care at home
• services classed as other than care at home

Alternatively, you must be a Personal Assistant directly employed by recipients of Self-Directed Support (SDS) Option 1 to provide care to under 18-year-olds with assessed needs.

If you are not getting paid the minimum amount

Speak to your employer

If you think that you qualify for the higher minimum rate, and your pay has not increased, the first thing you should do is speak to your employer.

Some employers may uplift pay from April, while others may only uplift pay rates after they receive the funding from local commissioning teams, which may take a couple of months. It is the responsibility of the employer to backdate payments to the start of the financial year.

Speak to your trade union

You may also want to contact your trade union if you are represented by one. If you are not, you can get more information from unions that represent social care workers, such as:

• GMB Scotland
• UNISON
• Unite

If you cannot resolve the issue with your employer

If you are not able to resolve the issue with your employer, and you think that you are eligible for this uplift, you can contact your local authority commissioning team who will look into this for you. Please note, they will only be able to do this if there is a contractual relationship between your employer and the local authority or Health and Social Care Partnership. 

Contacting your local authority commissioning team

When contacting your local authority commissioning team, you should title your email 'Children’s Social Care Pay Uplift Enquiry' and include:

• the name of your employer and the specific setting if appropriate
• your job role within direct children’s social care
• the type of service you work in, such as care home, care at home, or residential special school
• your current rate of pay

Scottish Government role

National and local government have a long-standing commitment to the principles of Fair Work for the social care sector. The Scottish Government is fully committed to improving the experience of the social care workforce, including increasing levels of pay, in recognition of the value of the work you do.

The Scottish Government provide funding to local authorities to ensure that both children and adult social care workers delivering direct care are paid a minimum rate of pay. Some local authorities commission these services to private, voluntary or private sector providers. They also provide funding for Personal Assistant employers through Self Directed Support payments.

It is expected that any provider that has committed to pay the higher hourly rate should pass this on to their employees. For Personal Assistant employers, all funding provided to deliver this uplift should be spent on increasing Personal Assistants’ pay.

The Scottish Government does not have a direct relationship with employers, and cannot resolve disputes between workers and their employers.  Any issues relating to implementation of this policy by an employer must be raised directly with service commissioners in your local authority or Health and Social Care Partnership, who manage local contractual relationships with your employer.