Working conditions and wellbeing in UK social workers

Abstract

Summary UK social workers are exposed to chronically poor working conditions and experience extremely high levels of sickness absence. The aim of this study was to gain an in-depth understanding of working conditions and wellbeing of social workers. Seven UK social work employers sent a survey of working conditions, wellbeing, and turnover intentions to all child and family social workers, followed by a series of individual semi-structured interviews with respondents. Data were collected between January and May 2019. Six hundred and seventy-six (41% response rate) completed surveys were returned and 19 interviews undertaken. Findings Quantitative findings demonstrated that working conditions scored better than previous studies, with positive scores on autonomy, peer, and managerial support. However, the four remaining conditions (demands, relationships, role, and change) each scored worse than 75–90% of respondents in UK-wide benchmarks of individuals from various occupations. Regression outcomes demonstrated that demands, control, change, relationships, and peer support each significantly impacted employee wellbeing. Furthermore, over 20% of respondents suggested that they were frequently exposed to poor service user behaviour. Thematic analysis of interviews suggested that workload (demands), relationships with peers, management, and services users, and the way in which change was communicated were the main difficulties cited. Applications It is clear that work is needed to support social worker stress and wellbeing at work. Management should support individuals in terms of developing peer and managerial support, and adopting best practice in reflective supervision. Furthermore, a more robust system of caseload allocation would support and improve significant workload pressures.

The Role of Coping in the Wellbeing and Work-Related Quality of Life of UK Health and Social Care Workers during COVID-19

“…Other health and social care occupations in the UK, such as social workers, were also reported to be experiencing high levels of work-related stress prior to the outbreak of COVID-19 [ 14 , 15 ]. Research on social care workers’ or support workers’ wellbeing in the UK is limited, but suggests that factors such as low pay, insecure ‘zero-hour’ contracts, and poor work–life balance are significant stressors in this workforce [ 16 ].…”

Global social work working conditions and wellbeing

“…The shorter version was chosen because it has similar psychometric properties to the 35-item measure but is quicker to complete, has been used in wide-ranging studies with UK social workers (e.g. Ravalier et al, 2020aRavalier et al, , 2020c and has UK-based scoring norms. Responses are given on a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (never) to 5 (always) in the first 15 questions, and 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) for the remaining 10.…”

“…Social workers play a key role in the lives of some of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged people across the globe (Ravalier et al, 2020c). They are an essential component of a thriving economy, and research has demonstrated that for each dollar spent on social services there is at least a three dollar return to the economy.…”

Networks of power and counterpower in social work with children and families in England

“…There is no shortage of evidence to back up this perspective. Social workers consistently rate their working conditions as some of the worst in the country (Ravalier, 2017; Ravalier and Biochat, 2018; UNISON, 2019; Ravalier et al, 2020). These studies also consistently find high numbers of social workers planning to imminently leave their jobs, anywhere from 38% on the low side (Ravalier et al, 2020) to 56% on the high side (UNISON, 2019).…”

“…Social workers consistently rate their working conditions as some of the worst in the country (Ravalier, 2017; Ravalier and Biochat, 2018; UNISON, 2019; Ravalier et al, 2020). These studies also consistently find high numbers of social workers planning to imminently leave their jobs, anywhere from 38% on the low side (Ravalier et al, 2020) to 56% on the high side (UNISON, 2019). At the same time rising poverty levels (Alston, 2019) and persistent inequality (House of Commons Library, 2020) are exacerbating the need for social work services and the complexity of the issues encountered by professionals.…”