Social Work Labor Market: A First Look

Virtually no literature exists on the labor market for social workers. Fragmentary evidence suggests that this market is highly segmented by education; that many people who do not have social work degrees work in social work jobs, at least at the lower levels; that people who want to be social workers have such a strong commitment to the career of social work that relative wages make relatively little difference to their career decisions; and that employers often hire applicants without degrees for social work jobs. These factors tend to depress wages for social workers. Suggestions are made for a research and data collection program to make possible a definitive analysis of the social work labor market.