Pay and Morale Survey
2024 survey
On Monday 16 September, we launched the Pay and Morale Survey 2024 to gather crucial evidence to support our ongoing efforts to fight for fair pay and working conditions for you.
The survey is designed to capture your views and experiences on pay, morale, welfare and wellbeing to provide accurate and comprehensive insight into the realities of policing as they currently stand.
This year’s survey includes specific questions on which aspects of policing should be considered when determining overall pay of police officers, impact of social media in performing your role and the extent of support you had during the recent incidents of violent public disorder.
It is of critical importance that you participate in the survey and help us strengthen our efforts to support your work.
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2023 survey
On Monday 6 November 2023 the PFEW launched its annual Pay and Morale Survey and 29,085 officers responded to it.
Key findings include:
• 22 per cent of respondents expressed intentions to resign within the next two years or as soon as possible.
• 78 per cent highlighting poor government treatment as a contributing factor.
• Low morale (85 per cent), mental health and wellbeing (73 per cent) were also significant factors tied to wanting to resign.
• 85 per cent feel they are not fairly paid given the hazards they face within their job.
• 78 per cent disclosed they are ‘dissatisfied’ or ‘very dissatisfied’ with their overall remuneration (including basic pay and allowances.
• 58% feel their morale is ‘low’ or ‘very low’, while 87 per cent feel morale within their force is currently ‘low’ or ‘very low’.
• 82% indicated they had experienced feelings of stress, low mood, anxiety or other problems with their mental health and wellbeing over the last 12 months.
• 95% said how the police are treated by the Government had a negative impact on their morale.
• 81% said their pay had a negative impact on their morale.
• 73% said they would not recommend joining the police to others.
• 71% said they did not feel valued within the police.
• 92% of respondents feel they are not fairly paid given the stresses and strains of their job.
• 86% said they do not feel there are enough officers to meet the demands of their team or unit.
• 64% said their workload has been ‘too high’ or ‘much too high’ over the last 12 months.
• 39% said their workload being too high had an impact on their mental health and wellbeing.
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2022 survey
For 2022, PFEW amalgamated the Demand, Capacity and Welfare Survey questions within the Pay and Morale Survey to enable us to focus on our members' welfare and wellbeing concerns alongside their views on pay and working conditions.
Capturing all the information in one survey has enabled us to help our members avoid survey fatigue whilst highlighting welfare and wellbeing issues.
The survey was live from September - October 2022.
Of 36,669 officers who responded, 95 per cent said their treatment by the Government harmed their morale with 87 per cent saying the same for pay.
The survey found 9 in 10 police officers feel financially worse off than they were five years ago and nearly one in five officers plan on handing in their resignation as soon as possible or within the next two years due to reasons including unfair pay.
Other findings include:
- 83% of respondents said that they are ‘dissatisfied’ or ‘very dissatisfied’ with their
overall remuneration (including basic pay and allowances). - 98% of respondents reported that their cost of living had increased in the last month, with ‘the price of my food shop has increased’ being the most cited reason (98%).
- 69% of respondents reported worrying about the state of their finances ‘every day’ or ‘almost every day’.
- 87% of respondents (9 in 10) felt that they were ‘worse off’ financially than they were five years ago.
- 56% of respondents told us that their morale is currently ‘low’ or ‘very low’.
- 87% of respondents feel that morale within the force is currently ‘low’ or ‘very low’.
- 95% said that how the Police are treated by the government had a negative impact on their morale 87% said the same for pay.
- 94% of respondents said that they do not feel respected by the government.
- 70% of respondents said that they would not recommend joining the police to others.
- 18% of respondents told us that they had an intention to resign from the Police service either ‘within the next two years’ or ‘as soon as [they] can’.
- 66% of respondents said that over the last 12 months, their workload has been ‘too high’ or ‘much too high’.
- 88% said that they do not feel that there are enough officers to meet the demands of their team or unit.
- 37% of respondents have experienced verbal insults (e.g., swearing, shouting, abuse) at least once per week in the past 12 months.
- 18% of respondents reported that they had suffered one or more injuries that required medical attention as a result of work-related violence in the last year.
- 92% said that these feelings of stress, low mood, anxiety or other difficulties had been caused, or made worse, by work.
You can read the full headline report here.
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2021 survey
In our 2021 pay and morale survey police officers voiced almost total dissatisfaction with the Government. Of 29,587 officers who responded, 95% said their treatment by the Government had a negative impact on their morale, while 93% stated they did not feel respected by it.
Other findings include:
• 92% said they are not fairly paid for the stresses and strains of their job
• 86% said they do not feel fairly paid for the hazards within their job
• More than one in 10 regularly struggle to cover the cost of essential items
• 58% said their morale is low. This has increased from 48% last year
• 84% of respondents said treatment by the public had a negative impact on morale
You can read the Pay and Morale technical annexe here.
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2020 survey
PFEW's 2020 survey ran from 28 July to 11 September 2020. The survey covered our usual cost of living and morale questions and also assess the impact of Covid-19 on officers finances, working conditions and morale. It also gauged views around the proposed 20,000 officer uplift. The 2020 survey revealed that, 86% of respondents said they did not feel fairly paid in relation to the stresses and strains of the job, 65% of respondents reported the COVID-19 crisis has had a negative impact on their morale and 76% felt unfairly paid for the risks & responsibilities of their job during the pandemic.
The 2020 survey revealed:
- 86% of respondents said they did not feel fairly paid in relation to the stresses and strains of the job.
- 65% of respondents reported the COVID-19 crisis has had a negative impact on their morale.
- 76% felt unfairly paid for the risks & responsibilities of their job during the pandemic.
Pay and Morale Survey 2020 national reports:
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2019 survey
The findings from the 2019 pay and morale survey revealed that only 36% of respondents said they had enough money to cover their monthly essentials, with around one in eight admitting they have had to seek financial support to cover day to day expenses within the last year. Out of the 19,654 respondents to the survey conducted between June and August 2019, almost 75% said they felt worse off financially than they were five years ago.
Our submission to the PRRB contributed to the achievement of a 2.5% uplift in pay for all ranks, and the lowest rung of the sergeants' pay scale was scrapped in line with our recommendations.
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2018 survey
Our 2018 pay and morale survey found that more police officers than ever (7.8%) had taken second jobs. This was up 6.3% on the previous year.
A staggering 44.8% said they worried about the state of their personal finances either every day or almost every day. And more than one in nine (11.8%) said they never or almost never had enough money to cover all of their essentials. This was up from 11% on the year before.
The vast majority of respondents, 87.9%, did not feel fairly paid considering the stresses and strains of their job. More than 27,000 police officers - nearly a quarter of all ranks from constable to chief inspector - took part in the survey.
