Digital poverty and the care workforce

September 11th 2025

This week marks End Digital Poverty Day and the start of Professional Care Workers’ Week. It’s a meaningful moment to honour the dedication of care workers and raise awareness of a vital—but overlooked—challenge: the toll of digital poverty on the social care workforce.

Digital poverty goes far beyond lacking a device or basic tech know-how. The Digital Poverty Alliance defines it as “the inability to interact with the online world fully, when, where and how an individual needs to” (Digital Poverty Alliance, 2023). It’s about affordable, accessible access to reliable internet, suitable devices, and the confidence to use them safely and effectively.

For many people, access to the internet is essential. But for countless care workers, this kind of reliable digital access is anything but guaranteed—impacting their work, wellbeing, and opportunities.

Why care workers are at higher risk

Low pay and insecure work
Care roles are among England’s lowest-paid large occupations. According to Skills for Care, many independent-sector care workers earn at or just above the National Living Wage (Skills for Care, 2024). With household budgets tight, broadband and mobile data often get relegated.

Cost-shifting from employers
Some care staff must use personal phones and data for work tasks like rota or care apps if their employer has not provided devices. This can push connectivity costs onto already low-paid workers.

Demographics and inequality
Care workers are predominantly women—who face a 14–22% greater risk of digital exclusion than men in the UK (Digital Poverty Alliance, 2023). At the same time, frontline care roles in England are more ethnically diverse—only 64% of direct care workers are White, compared to 82% of the population. Black and Asian individuals are notably overrepresented in these roles (Skills for Care, 2024). Meanwhile, ethnic minority groups often face economic, trust, linguistic, and access barriers that further heighten digital exclusion.

These layered factors mean the very people providing our most essential care services are more likely to be digitally excluded.

Why this matters

Digital poverty affects care workers’ ability to:

Use workplace systems—online rotas, training, care documentation, and communications increasingly assume reliable internet and devices.
Advance their careers—limited access can hinder training and development opportunities.
Access essential services—banking, benefits, health services, and more are increasingly “digital by default.”
Stay connected—digital exclusion can contribute to isolation, stress, and diminished wellbeing.

Digital transformation in care must not leave behind the most vital resource: the workforce.

The rural dimension

In rural parts of England, digital exclusion often stems from infrastructure gaps, not affordability. While 98% of urban premises have access to superfast broadband, only 90% of rural premises can say the same (Ofcom Connected Nations England Report, 2024). The disparity is starker for gigabit-capable broadband—88% in urban areas versus just 54% in rural areas.

Mobile coverage also remains a concern with “not-spots” still common in villages and along rural roads. According to Ofcom, indoor 4G coverage in rural England ranges between 85% to 76% by operator, compared to 99% to 97% of urban areas in England. (Ofcom Connected Nations England Report, 2024).

For care workers—many of whom travel long distances between isolated homes—this lack of mobile connectivity means they may be unable to access digital care records, complete online training, or even call for help in an emergency. Rural isolation combined with weak broadband and patchy mobile signal leaves some care workers doubly cut off—both professionally and socially. Tackling these challenges means addressing not just affordability, but also the infrastructure and mobile coverage gaps that disproportionately disadvantage rural staff.

Positive examples of engagement

There are shining examples of how care workers are shaping the digital agenda. Earlier this year, frontline staff collaborated with the Digital Care Hub, The Care Workers’ Charity, and Oxford’s Institute for Ethics in AI to co-produce a Care Workers’ Statement on the Responsible Use of Generative AI in Adult Social Care. This ensures emerging technologies support—not replace—the workforce, and that care workers’ voices are central to ethical digital design (Care Workers’ Charity, 2024).

Taking action

End Digital Poverty Day rallies us behind a bold goal: ending digital poverty in the UK by 2030. For care workers, this means:

Fair access to devices and data—employers should provide phones, data allowances, or Wi-Fi, rather than relying on personal resources.
Improved connectivity across rural and urban areas—investment is needed in both infrastructure and affordable plans.
Inclusive digital skills training—tailored, practical, and accessible to a diverse workforce.
Listening to care workers—solutions must be co-produced with the people who will use them.

“Care workers deserve the same chance as anyone else to connect, learn and thrive online. Digital poverty isn’t inevitable—it’s something we can tackle with the right investment and imagination. By ensuring frontline staff have the tools, skills and confidence they need, we not only improve their daily lives but unlock the full potential of digital technology to transform care.”
— Katie Thorn, Project Lead, Digital Care Hub

Celebrating and supporting care workers

Professional Care Workers’ Week celebrates the empathy, resilience, and dedication of the 1.5 million care workers in England. Let’s honour their work not just with praise, but by tackling digital exclusion head-on.

Digital poverty isn’t inevitable—it’s a result of policy choices. As we coincide Professional Care Workers’ Week with End Digital Poverty Day, we have a powerful opportunity to ensure all care staff—not just some—can interact with the digital world fully, when, where, and how they need.

Because when we remove digital barriers for care workers, we don’t just improve their lives—we strengthen the entire care system.

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