Social care is undervalued. Many of the problems affecting services – including ‘factory production line’ care, poverty wages and poor working conditions, and the extraction of wealth by private-equith backed chain companies – can be traced back to a lack of recognition. Yet the care sector employs 1.5 million workers in England alone, and it has enormous potential to be a driver of inclusive economic development.

This report explores the benefits to local economies of one particular approach to care; community micro-enterprises are small social businesses that provide care and support in diverse ways.

Published in May 2020 by the New Economics Foundation.