The Datum Report

Occupation 6134 · Caring, leisure and other service occupations

Houseparents and residential wardens

Half of full-time houseparents and residential wardens in the UK earn more than £31,871 a year, and half earn less.

Houseparents and residential wardens are responsible for the care and supervision of children, young people and the elderly within residential homes, schools or their own homes. An essential requirement of their work is that they reside with those for whom they are providing support.

How people enter it

There are no formal academic entry requirements. In most cases workers will hold or be working towards the appropriate qualification for the job. Entrants must typically be 18 years old and have experience of working in a care environment. Both Off and on-the-job training is available. A wide range of qualifications including NVQs/SVQs covering various aspects of care are available. Background checks including an enhanced DBS check, CPR and first aid certifications are likely to be required.

What the work involves

• creates friendly, secure atmosphere and tries to gain the trust and confidence of those in the home or under supervision
• plans and participates in games and leisure activities to encourage emotional, social, physical and intellectual development
• ensures that all material needs of residents are provided and endeavours to resolve any problems that they may have
• ensures that students attend school regularly
• manage the household (domestic duties)
• may provide one-to-one counselling or group therapy
• establishes and maintains contact with members of the neighbouring community and/or the residents’ family and friends
• maintains contact and discusses problems/progress with other staff and social workers
• keeps records and writes reports

Also called

Foster carer · House matron · House parent · Residential care officer · Warden (care/residential home)

What it pays

How pay has changed

Median gross annual pay for houseparents and residential wardens, full-time employees, 2023 to 2025. Each point is that year's ASHE April snapshot as published — revisions are not backfilled into earlier years, and a year ONS withheld is a gap rather than a joined line.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Table

Year-on-year change

The change from each year to the next, in per cent, computed from the figures in the chart above — so the two cannot disagree.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Table

Pay by region

Median gross annual pay for full-time employees, ranked, against the UK figure. 6 of 11 regions are published: ONS withholds a cell where the survey sample cannot support it, and those are shown as gaps rather than dropped — an absent region is not a region without the work in it.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Period 2025. Table

Every regional figure

ONS does not publish occupational pay below region. Cells the survey could not support are shown as withheld, with its reason — adding a region split to a specific occupation leaves roughly a tenth of cells publishable.

Common questions

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