With many people unemployed and the jobs market still in the process of slow recovery, The Mirror has turned to one sector of work still on the increase - social care jobs.

According to their latest Mirror Jobs advice column, each month there are 30,000 vacant positions in social care, from domiciliary care jobs to cooks, drivers and maintenance staff. "And the good news," says the paper's Tricia Phillips, "is that the numbers keep rising."

Part of the reason that demand for workers to fill social care jobs is so high is the significant increases in average life expectancy over the past century. The Mirror says that over the past 25 years, improved standards of health and living conditions have led to a 1.5 million increase in the number of people aged 65 and over.

The elderly population is only set to increase, with estimates commonly placing the size of the elderly population by 2033 as almost a quarter of the total number of people living in the UK.

"This work offers a fantastic opportunity to make a real difference," says Darra Singh, the chief executive of JobCentre Plus. "No two days are the same and what's more you get the satisfaction of knowing you've had a positive effect on people's lives."