A new levy targeted at the over-40s is being considered by ministers to help solve the social care funding crisis.

Matt Hancock, the Health and Social Care Secretary, told the Telegraph he was “attracted to” a cross-party plan for a compulsory premium deducted from the earnings of the ­middle-aged and over-65s to fund the cost of their care in later life.

The proposals, set out by two Commons committees, are based on the system in Germany under which all workers over 40 pay 2.5 per cent of their wages into a pot formally earmarked for social care.

The plan also includes offering cash payouts to young and elderly adults ­receiving care, to enable them to pay carers, including family members.

It is more radical than an idea Mr Hancock previously disclosed he was considering, of an “opt-out” proposal similar to the auto-enrolment system of pensions. The premiums would be compulsory and only levied on older workers, leaving ministers open to ­accusations of a tax on age.

Dr Sarah Wollaston, the Tory chairman of the Commons health committee, one of the two panels that proposed the scheme, said it was intended to avoid putting an “unfair” burden on “working-age young employed adults”.