Within‐Sector Job Mobility and Worker Outcomes in England's Adult Social Care Sector

Abstract

ABSTRACT England's adult social care sector faces persistently high staff turnover. This article examines the effects of individual‐level within‐sector job mobility on hourly pay and working hours and identifies the employer types and contractual arrangements that attract such mobility. Using an event‐study difference‐in‐differences (DiD) design, we show that job mobility increases hourly pay by 4.5% in the first year, rising to 6.1% after 5 years. Instrumental variable analyses either corroborate the DiD estimates or show higher impacts. Mobility also raises weekly working hours and reduces the likelihood of 0‐h contracts by around 7.0 percentage points. Employer‐specific wage premia account for nearly half of observed pay gains, whereas worker–employer match effects play little role. Workers predominantly move to higher paying employers—particularly local authorities and community‐based services—into fixed‐hours contracts and out of direct care roles. Moves into 0‐h contracts result in modest pay losses. Men experience larger pay gains from mobility than women.