Those in social care jobs are likely to breathe a sigh of relief today after it was reported that social care is one of the least likely areas to be affected by the public sector squeeze.

According to a report by Community Care, only 1% of people thought services in social care for older people, or child protection services, should be subject to cuts.

This was supported by the news today that local authority chiefs have said social care for children and adults is the second least likely area to suffer big cuts. A separate public opinion poll for NLGN found that social care was the least popular area for cuts, with over 70% opposed to cuts in this sector and almost half of all people saying they were strongly against cuts.

Last month the Institute of Fiscal Studies suggested that social care budgets could be cut by as much as 33%. However, chief executives and finance officers told the New Local Government Network during a survey that they expect the cuts to be much less, ranging between 20 and 25%.

According to The Guardian, restricting care budgets could prove expensive. An article published this week claims that it costs "something like £40 a day for the sort of domiciliary care to allow an elderly person to be cared for at home.''

The article explains that in the NHS an elderly care bed costs closer to £400 a day. By restricting local authority care budgets The Guardian claims it could have the knock-on effect of "trapping more people in hospital at 10 times the cost.''

Education is the only other area which is expected to see more protection than social care when it comes to the public sector spending squeeze.