Happy to be a social worker but feeling the pressure, major survey finds

Published by Professional Social Work magazine, 9 March, 2022

A major survey by the British Association of Social Workers has shone a light on the professional lives of social workers, highlighting their motivation, hopes for the future, challenges and frustrations.

The survey, which had 2062 responses, found the biggest reason for becoming a social worker was wanting to work with, and support people (29.8 per cent), closely followed by an interest in social justice (29.1 per cent) and improving people’s lives (28.8 per cent).

Making a positive impact on people’s health and social wellbeing is what the majority found most rewarding (50.4 per cent) followed by enabling individuals and families to have more choice and control in life (43.9 per cent) and promoting social justice and anti-oppressive practice (32.7 per cent).

A significant majority either agreed (43.7 per cent) or strongly agreed (16.9 per cent) with the statement: “I am happy working in the social work profession”.

Nearly a quarter (23.3 per cent) intend to continue in their current role over the next three years; 17.2 per cent said they plan to apply for promotion and 18.2 per cent plan to change area of practice.

The survey also highlighted the pressures on social workers. Seven out of ten (71.9 per cent) feel unable to complete their work within contracted hours.

As a result, more than a third work between five and ten hours extra a week and 36.8 per cent between one and five hours extra. The vast majority – 93.3 per cent – don’t get paid for the additional hours.

Asked to choose the biggest challenge in their current workplace, most identified administrative tasks (51.2 per cent) followed by staffing levels (50.6 per cent) and workload (46.6 per cent). Accessing resources for service users was highlighted by 43.1 per cent. Asked to rate the public’s perception of social workers on a sliding scale from one (poor) to ten (excellent), the average score was 3.6.

When it came to priorities for developing social work in the immediate future, 59.7 per cent chose better promotion of the profession with policymakers and politicians. Next came effective multi-agency and/or partnership working (39.9 per cent) followed by effective practice leadership (32.4 per cent).

Asked to name the biggest challenges facing social work, cuts to services came top (65.6 per cent) followed by failure to adequately fund social care (63.4 per cent) and not having enough time to spend with service users (52.7 per cent).

Worryingly, 43.1 per cent of respondents said they had either experienced or were aware of someone who has experienced bullying, harassment and/or discrimination at work or in social work education in the last year.

More than 37 per cent said the number of people they work with increased during the pandemic and has not returned to pre-pandemic levels.

More than half of respondents said their mental health had suffered from working during the peak of the pandemic, with 22.3 per cent of these still suffering.

Almost two-thirds reported encountering more moral and ethical dilemmas in supporting people during lockdowns. More than half of respondents reported experiencing ‘moral distress’ – the psychological impact of knowing the ethical thing to do but being unable to do it.

Conversely, 16 per cent said Covid restrictions had a positive impact on their work or study experience mentally. More than half said they had a positive experience of communicating digitally with service users during the pandemic.

BASW spelt out its three calls for investment in social work recruitment, education, professional development and retention; action to tackle poor work conditions and “unfeasibly high workloads” s and enable time for relationship-based practice by reducing admin tasks.

BASW chief executive Ruth Allen, said: “It is no surprise that despite working in the most challenging of environments with stretched resources and poor working conditions that social workers continue to deliver in their role with a genuine enthusiasm and drive to support people and to have a positive impact on their lives.

"This can only be achieved if social workers have adequate resources and with the right professional working conditions to do their jobs.  BASW will continue to campaign on these areas."

John McGowan, general secretary of the Social Workers Union, said: “As a union we are keenly aware of the impact of working conditions on social workers and – in addition to updating research on working conditions and wellbeing and new research on reflective supervision best practices – one of our new member-led campaigns is focusing on encouraging the creation of more part-time work opportunities for social workers with the aim to improve working conditions, provide opportunities for those who need part time work, and improve retention of social workers."

The majority of respondents to the survey worked in England (83.9 per cent). Most qualified ten or more years ago (64.6 per cent). Half worked with children and families and a quarter with adults.

Not all questions were answered by all respondents.