Four Issues Impacting Social Work Now:

As March is wrapping up the final days of National Social Work Month in the United States.  Many states, cities, counties have proclaimed or supported the work of social workers in March.  While this acknowledgment is appreciated, it is also important that social workers are addressing the needs of the profession.  There are a number of major issues facing our profession. The following blog post is going to outline a few major issues and ways to get involved as a social worker.

Poor Wages

One of the biggest issues facing is pay.  Many social worker are coming into the field with a Masters degree and often the salaries amounts do not match pay adequate amounts to help social workers meet basic needs including their student loan debts.  Social workers (due to insurance, work obligations and greater work responsibilities), it is harder to find a social work position for just a bachelors degree.  Many social workers are moving onto a Masters degree and when they enter the workforce, they are being paid substandard wages.  When I entered the field with my Masters degree in 2008, I was being paid $32,000 and tried to negotiate a higher salary but was told no even though I was expected to use my Masters level skills.  Sadly, wages have not changed much since this time and the low wages are often pushing people into private practice which is causing a major need for agencies and other non profit work. 

Student Loan Debt:

Another major area is student loan debt.  I have been a fortunate recipient of student loan forgiveness but prior to that time, I was carrying over $100,000 in student loan debt between my bachelors and masters degree.  Student loan debt is not getting smaller and more and more people are being forced into a masters program in order to have some leverage for pay.  Social workers are people who need to eat, pay their bills, take care of their family and we need vacation, health care and the ability to live above poverty.  When social workers are unable to meet their basic needs, they are not effective with their clients.  Student loan debt adds to this dynamic. 

Lots of Vacancies:

There is an increased need to fill employment openings with social workers which has led to a number of vacancies within the field.  This is true for the area where I live in Michigan and from what I hear from other social workers outside of Michigan.  Some of the contributing factors include poor pay at the masters level, enormous student loan debt and even some concern about the perception of the social work profession.  Social Workers work within very difficult, complex and traumatic systems.  These systems are not easy to navigate and at times to make change that impacts the entire system.  There is a lot of work for us including helping our clients, helping ourselves and making change. It can feel daunting and even very lonely.  There is also a perception that there is not a lot of support or help to make changes.  Sometimes this happens through social workers talking to each other or even the ways in which we have had our own interactions.  Even having the question of why agencies have so many vacancies can cause some hesitancy in joining the staff.  There can be some real subliminal messages when an agency has several openings on a consistent basis.  

Mental Health:

Due to the struggle with pay, student loan debt and multiple employment openings;  the amount of trauma impacting our clients, our witnessing of pain, and working in systems of oppression can impact us.  Even if we don’t feel this impacts us, it does. This vicarious trauma can also be combined with the personal trauma that we bring to the job due to our own childhood experiences.  Many of us are led to the field to fix what we perceive as broken or as a way to understand ourselves.  Sometimes we are called to the field to better understand our family systems or specific loved ones. 

When we are not taking care of these needs in combination with the oppression and marginalization by the various systems in our community; it can be a recipe for disaster.  It can range from increased vicarious trauma to burnout to experiencing our own significant mental health needs.  This leads to an increase in suffering and pain all the way through needing to leaving the field to protect ourselves.  While leaving can be helpful, we are also losing valuable resources and voices.  Furthermore, the mental health needs don’t magically disappear once we leave and this impact can be life long. 

If you want to make an impact on the field of social work to make working conditions better including addressing pay inequities, improving the perception of our profession, addressing student loan debt and making sure social workers have adequate mental health support, please check out the resources below.  National Social Work Month is a time to celebrate and time to examine what we need to be successful. 

Resources:

National Association of Social Workers:  www.nasw.org and many chapters have committees to address working conditions.  They also host journals and other research geared towards working conditions. 

Abolitionist Social Work Journal:  https://apsw-ojs-uh.tdl.org/apsw 

Network to Advance Abolitionist Social Work:  www.naasw.org

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