NASW Responds to Article on Worst Paying College Degrees
Photo courtesy of Huffington Post.
Social work was recently listed in this article on Huffington Post as one of the worst paying college degrees. That generated a healthy response from social workers who left dozens of comments on the Huffington Web site as well as the National Association of Social Workers’ Facebook page.
The National Association of Social Workers is sending this response to Huffington Post:
The National Association of Social Workers is concerned with salary information posted in the Huffington piece, which cited Payscale data. Payscale, which limited its data collection to social workers with bachelor’s degrees, listed the starting median salary for a social worker at $33,400 and $41,600 for a mid-career social worker.
However, those median salary levels are below those in a new National Association of Social Workers Compensation Study, which includes data from social workers with master’s degrees. That study puts the median annual salary for all social workers at $55,000 a year.
Social workers with less than five years experience earn a median annual salary of $43,700; those with 10- 19 years of experience earn a median annual salary of $52,000; and those with 20 -29 years of experience earn a median annual salary of $60,000, according to the NASW study.
To read a summary of the salary report click here.
You can find social workers in all areas of society. For instance, they help veterans who have risked their lives for our nation get the benefits they need, counsel families in crisis, and help keep children safe. Many social workers say the good they bring into the lives of others is far more important than getting rich.
However, there is no question social workers should be paid more for the invaluable work they do. That is why NASW supports Congressional passage of the Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young Social Worker Reinvestment Act, which would secure federal and state investment in the social work profession.
We would also like to point out that social work is one of the fastest growing fields in the United States, according to Labor Department data. And a May U.S. News and World Report article said medical and public health social work will be one of the 50 best careers in 2010 and beyond.
Judgments on the monetary value of certain careers are always subjective. Thank goodness many people continue to choose life-affirming careers such as social work despite the naysayers.
Sincerely,
Tracy Whitaker, DSW, ACSW
Director, Center for Workforce Studies and Social Work Practice
National Association of Social Workers
Thank you so much for responding to the article posted by HP. I was truly disappointed in their recent claims about the social work field being the worst in terms of compensation. I feel their portrayal was misleading and detrimental to the profession. Once again, thank you for speaking out for social workers.
I am interested to find this, as I too had laughed at that article two days ago when I first saw it. Glad this was addressed. As a current MSW graduate student at Louisiana State Unviersity, I am glad to see that this information was provided
maybe Huffington Post can update their list now!
The article on Yahoo lists the salaries for a BSW, so it may be accurate. Earning potential is more for MSW and LCSW.
Thank you for the speedy and well articulated response to the Huffington Post article. I too saw it first on Yahoo, so hopefully they will catch wind of this response as well. And although the “disappointing” salary figures may indeed deter some from the profession, I would say you’d be hard pressed to find a social worker who’s in it for the paycheck. The deeper and much more valuable reward of our profession comes from the services we provide to those most in need. A soon to be (BSW) graduate, the non-monitary rewards are what drew me, and keep me in the profession. As one of the fastest growing professions(despite the pay), its wonderful to see that we as social workers continue to resonate that message every day.
I understand how the negativity from the article could deter future social workers from pursuing our profession, but how else is that article negative??? People need to know that we don’t make anything as to raise awareness of what we do, and so we can get help to lobby our legislators for more funding for our services. I laughed at the NASW figures, not the original ones. I don’t know more than 2-3 colleagues of mine that make $55,000 or more. I have a MSW and LCSW, as does almost everyone I know. I don’t expect to make more than $35,000 anytime soon. Am I missing something as to why people are saying this stuff???
Even using the NASW’s numbers still the lowest paid Masters Degree… Yes?
Compensation for social workers is disproportionate to the level of education required (a masters degree for licensure where I live in California)and the amount of time, effort, and money it takes to get licensed, particularly in the State of California. Social work is often a labor of love.
Thanks for this response! What they also don’t account for is regional differences in pay scale. The wonderful people who go into social work see it as a calling to help others…I’m not sure I would want the profession to attract the same types that are only in a job for a pay check. That being said, social workers are undervalued, and I hope that does improve.
I made 40k my first year out of my master’s program, and I know LCSW in my area make more. Some fields of social worker may pay lower than others, but I haven’t heard of LCSW’s making no more than 35k / year.
Is NASW in denial or delusional that social work isn’t one of the worst paying degrees? A certificate RN (2-3 year education) often has a higher starting salary than a MSW with 6 years of education. I see ads for a LCSW with hourly pay of $12-$17 in an expensive part of the country no less. If I had a Master degree in any other field my salary would be at least $40,000 higher. I didn’t realize I was taking a vow of poverty when I became a social worker.
I’m currently in college as a double psychology and social work major and when my mom read that article she called to convince me not to become a social worker but a psychologist instead and have biology as my second major. Beautiful way to wake up in the morning.
I am questioning the scales quoted by the NASW for social worker salaries. Is this information relevant to all social workers or only the social workers that belong to the NASW. That piece of information would be necessary to draw informative conclusions about payscales. I have worked with many social workers that could not afford to join the NASW, so that says something in itself and the payscales. These salaries seem to be representative of federal employees, not non-profits, or even state employees. So I question the payscales and where the data was drawn from to reach these conclusions.
I have been in the social work profession for 14 + years and am now working towards my DSW. I can truly say I went into social work to help others, however we all need money to survive on. Living in poverty is just not acceptable, especially in a profession where stress and burn out rates are high. The social work and the profession has got to start advocating for itself, improving our self image, payscales, benefits, and making licensure a national standard, as each states licensing regulations can significantly differ.
I’m sorry to say that I agree with the premise of the article. After over 25 years of experience post-masters and working in Massachusetts, North Carolina and New Hampshire, my present salary is the same as my salary of 20 years ago. It’s so sad…but I have to add, I love what I do and have invested in my career with post-master fellowships and trainings and really feel I can make an impact in my field. While I am not compensated financially, the flexibility and versatility of the field is extraordinary. I also have made the choice to continue being a clinician rather than move into administration and teaching which offers higher salaries.
Thank you for responding to them quickly. After raising four children and taking care of a sick mother, grand mother and grandfather (all are deceased) I decided it was time to pursue my degree in Human Services which is something I have wanted to do since I was young. I did not choose this profession to get rich. I chose this profession so I can be a voice for those who are not strong enough or able to speak for themselves. I chose this profession to help make a difference in someone’s life, my community and the world.
To Social Workers everywhere, Money can’t buy happiness. We understand better than anyone the joy we feel when we know a difference has been made. For us that’s payment.
When I began my journey to become a social worker, I was a single young woman with very few financial obligations. Upon completing my masters degree and becoming licensed, I was married. My salary was a comfortable supplement to our household income. Over the course of 10 yrs, 3 children, divorce and cost of living increases, what was once a comfortable supplement has become my only means of income. Through my eyes, social work salaries do not offer competitive pay, not even with the salaries cited in Dr. Whitaker’s response to the Huffington Post Article Re: Social Work Salaries. It isn’t about getting rich. It is about our livelihood and our responsibilities as parents while meeting the needs of others.
David-I am an LCSW and make $33,000. Every one of my colleagues with my credentials earns the same. Now you’ve heard of it!
Thank you, NASW, for your prompt response to this article. It is important NASW advocates for its members by educating the public about our education, ethics and experience.
NASW also continues to promote higher, and more competitive salaries for professional social workers. NASW’s work toward research leading to evidence-based practices proving the efficacy and efficiency of our interventions. Just “knowing” we’re doing the right thing will no longer get us what we need salary-wise. Let’s prove how great we are!
I do challenge NASW to include the “non-traditional” areas of social work in which our profession is branching out. One example: health care quality improvement is a great field for LCSWs–our clinical skills are perfect for facilitating improvements in heatlh care safety, satisfaction and efficiency.
Rock on, NASW!!!
This is not encouraging to know at all as I just applied to a university for my MSW. Yes you want to be the voice for those who cannot speak, yes you want to make a difference in your community , you want to go home knowing that you have help to make a difference in someone life to day. However, we live in a high price economy, and our salary will be next to nothing, what is the survival rate with an income like this?
I agree with those social workers that feel we are underpaid for what we do. Our salaries have not kept up with the rising cost of living. Because we need continuing course work to keep our licenses and the cost of belonging to NASW and yearly licenses continues to rise, we are unlike many fields who have none of these expenses . I also know social workers who cannot afford to belong to NASW but beyond that I have friends that must purchase high deductible health insurance policies at high cost. We are definitely one of the lower paid master’s level professions. It is however, a labor of love and even though I was employed as an account executive in a previous life, I have never looked back or regretted my decision.
There are no jobs in NY, let alone that pay well. The article is absolutely true and until NASW starts better promotion of the field, it is an absolutely useless degree. Sorry – but it is the truth! I make more now with a paralegal certificate than I did being licensed and holding an MSW. The universities are the only ones making money on this degree or, maybe, if you have a private practice in addition to an agency job. Social work is a dead-end profession.
It is not always about the money when we become social workers but our passion for helping right wrongs, working with the disenfranchised, developing rapport with the mentally ill and advocating the acceptance of diversity and culture. We choose our paths but we must be assertive and firm in demanding equitable pay. Social workers, in what ever they do and however they define themselves, will continue to break barriers of social injustice–we are not about rebellion but are about advocating for others…we will always be needed!
This is very disheartening. I did not see the article, but to hear all of your comments, I am reconsidering my decision to pursue a degree in social work. I am 33 with 2 kids, a mortgage, and a husband about to retire from the Navy in 3 (which means he’ll be starting over professionally). I, like many others, want to be a social worker and am not looking for an enormous paycheck, but I have to survive and help my family. I wanted to practice social work in the criminal justice field and eventually work towards an LCSW. That is a long journey to undertake if the financial benefit is so small. I truly want to help others and society but not at the expense of my family. I think now it is time to do some serious soul searching.
I am a LSW in Pennsylvania where nurse case managers with a 2 year degree or diploma make an average of $10 an hour more to start than a a LSW (required where I work). Not fair, but then again we don’t go into social work for the money but a decent wage would be nice!!!!
It all depends, right now the veterans affairs is paying $58,000 and some MSW’s are walking in with a license getting $72,000. If you are the head of a non-profit organization you can make about $100,000 easily. It all depends on who you are and who you work for.
I have both a masters level social worker license and a masters level addictions certification and working for the state of maryland i only get $40,000. it IS hard to get more than that for an entry level masters level position in maryland.
I am planning to begin a part time MSW program this fall. I have a mixture of excitement and fear regarding the degree. I am 32 and I have a good paying job, but I have been wanting to get into a career helping others for years now. For the past 3 years I have been trying to decide between Social Work and Nursing. Fortunately, my wife is very supportive whichever way I go, but I am afraid of being able to provide for my family. It is nice to know that I can always find work as a Social Worker, but it’s disheartening to look at a career like nursing, which is more valued in society and more lucrative. It’s disheartening to see nursing job ads that will pay starting bonuses and help pay back student loans. When I researched Social Work salaries in my area, I found out that therapists start at around $30,000 per year. I think it makes aspiring Social Workers devalue themselves, their field and their degree when they aren’t paid equal to other lateral professions. It makes little sense in today’s world where there is such a need for Social Workers, that they are not more valued.
I agree with Mary that social work is a dead-end profession. I have been unemployed 12 months since April 2009 with an MSW and LCSW. What social work schools WONT tell you is that the market is oversaturated with MSW’s, especially in the big cities. So the more MSW’s there are to choose from , the less these agencies can pay you. The highest paying social work jobs are the hardest to get and involve a lot of “dirty work” (politics in the workplace)- that are mostly in the hospitals and government- where I have both worked at. I even called my local NASW chapter for career advice and you know what they told me? that now is not a good time to be in the social work field- all the agencies are paying fee for service (no salary, no benefits) and no one will give you the supervision you need for independent licensure. If you want to help people, go volunteer in your free time, help your friends, families, neighbors, etc. but dont make it a profession. I wish I went for an MBA which my friends all have and are making good money at huge firms.
For those thinking about going for an MSW- talk to people who are in the field. not only the recruiters from the colleges but to practitioners at all levels and at different agencies. All of the jobs are in rural areas and in the elderly/hospice speciality. That is why the next big NASW conference is on end of life and not children/families- a very popular and oversaturated concentration.
i would love to talk to those who responded who are still in the field and what planet are they working on. Every agency/institution i have worked for allows clients to treat social workers like (expletive) and for management to treat social workers like (expletive).
Greetings Colleagues,
Is it possible for us to spend a minute rereading our posts before we click submit? Respectfully, if we want to be taken seriously, we have to present as professionals: this means writing a paragraph that people can understand and respond to.
Regards,
AP
I didn’t go into social work to become a millionare, however I refuse to starve. I am going to graduate this spring with my MSW and I am planning on getting a job at the VA. I’ve seen starting pay at the VA between $55k-65K. I also have an MBA. I think it is time for social workers to stop being satisfied with low wages. If you don’t like the job you are in and can afford to leave, then do it. A word to Jamie above, having your MBA doesn’t gurantee ANYTHING in this job market. I’m not playing dirty, I am interning at the VA and there are plenty of jobs within the VA system. Also, I am concentrating on Gerontology – go where the work is
The article itself was helpful to me as it substantiated my experience in the field. Social workers have a tendency to advocate for others and not for themselves, leaving us now as the worst paying profession for the education and experience required to do the job. Generally, social workers refuse to unionize because it would create conflict, social workers like to resolve conflict not create it. However, if social workers were to address the more political aspects of their work, to stand up to their increasingly militaristic boards, to become more vocal about the intrusion of insurance companies into their clinical work, to organize around issues including the importance of social engineering, to interject into political debate and use media to address the cause of inhumanitarian policies, perhaps we would be more satisfied with our position in the world. Unfortunately, we appear to be unable to do what is necessary to change our position because we are all focused on being “nice” and “professional” rather than the radicals that the founders of this profession proved to be.
Thanks for taking time from what is most likely a busy schedule to articulate our social work approach. I agree that many, if not all, social workers are often putting their clients’ and communities’ interests and needs ahead of themselves, leading to lack of time and energy for advocating for self and profession.
Whenever I tell people that I’m a social worker, the first comment is, “I hope you marry someone rich!” While we don’t go into this profession for the money, by not fighting for better wages, we are acquiescing to the idea that we deserve lower wages. Since social worker is dominated by women, the fact that we aren’t fighting for better wages also implies that we’re okay with women being paid less than men.
Society already looks down on us because they perceive social workers as child snatchers with fluffy graduate degrees. I have engineering acquaintances with bachelors degrees who laugh at my less than stellar wages, stating that they worked harder and took harder classes in college. Apparently, my salary is evidence of this. We as a profession need to 1) create a more rigorous curriculum for future students, 2) educate the public of the importance of social work, and 3) build respect for the profession. By becoming more respectable, we garner the authority to ask for those wages that are comparable to health professions with masters level degrees. Until we do so, our profession is okay with being mediocre, and that’s no good for us and our clients.
Sorry, but I don’t think we should rely on the government to pass some act in hopes it’ll get us better wages. We need to take it upon ourselves. Teachers have done it. Nurses have done it, and look how much they’re making these days. This is what we can do:
-Require universal title protection on a NATIONAL level. A friend of mine was recently hired for a Child Protective Service job with the title “social worker”. She does not have an MSW. Her undergraduate degree was not even in social work. This is not okay. I see people complaining on this site all the time about how caseworkers are misidentified as social workers. Maybe if we did something about getting national title protection, this wouldn’t happen. I mean, no one goes around confusing another profession for a nurse.
-Make social work school more difficult. Suze Orman picked social work as her major because she was told it was easy. Many social workers I know have vocalized that social work school is really watered down. How are we supposed to have the clout to fight for better wages when social work is viewed as a “mickey mouse” major in a “fluffy” social science field? I don’t see anyone bashing nurses, doctors, and engineers for having “easy degrees”. In fact, some of my social work friends tell me that they think nursing school would have been too hard for them. How does that give us leverage when we’re asking for salaries comparable to nurses with masters, or even associate degrees? Also, doctors have high wages because medical schools limit admissions to keep demand high. Med schools also have ridiculously difficult pre-reqs to screen out those not cut out for medicine. Perhaps social work schools should do the same, ensuring that the best, brightest, and most passionate social workers are out there providing the best services possible.
-Unionize. Nurses have done it and look at where they are now. Perhaps social workers should do the same. Preferably before nurses drive us out of hospital jobs completely.
This list is just to start. NASW really needs to step it up. Until these issues are solved, then social workers will continue to get underpaid. They’ll continue to get disrespected and misidentified. They’ll continue to burn out.
O.k. why is NASW so upset over the huffington post article? It seems pretty accurate, and they aren’t trying to slam social worker as a profession. “But hey, a job’s a job. And to our nation’s public servants: we salute you.” Sounds like they are saying at least you are working as a productive member of society and thank you for what you do.
They didn’t say the average MSW makes an average of $33k. They said the average social worker. If you take ALL the social workers and average their salaries, would it be higher or lower than 33k? I don’t know. That would have been a helpful statistic to have in the response above to prove otherwise if it was indeed inaccurate.
NASW, you do not speak for me.This is a prime example of how NASW does not work for social workers. This is an insult to the intelligence of any social worker out there, most of whom do not make a living wage. Please NASW, tell the truth. We need a living wage, especialy now when our responsibilities have quadrupled and we end up doing the job of three people with one meager salary. Lobby for a UNION, UNION, UNION. What about the Social Work boards? What have they done for us lately?
I just got hired to work in Hospice Care in the South. Provisional LCSW with six years experience: $31,500. No use in denying it – the pay is awful. NASW and individual social workers do very little to advocate for higher salaries. I know we “don’t do it for the money” – but we do need to be advocating for better pay.
I know many LCSW’s who are in private practice that make over 100k a year. They can bill most insurance companies for their services. You can also make 60k plus in administrative positions. Someone with a BSW will make a good bit less than an MSW or LCSW but there are plenty of areas you can be a social worker and make a good living too. The LCSW also holds more credibility and weight than an LPC or LMFT.
Also keep in mind there are some people who use the title social worker or claim to be a social worker and are in no way licensed.
I absolutely agree with the article that social work is a low paying degree. I was shocked after I graduated to see the low salaries for a Master’s level social worker who is licensed. I am a LMSW and one of the first jobs I interviewed for paid $21,000 and had no health insurance. I was able to eventually find a job that paid in the low $40′s, but this is about the average from what I have seen. Now, almost 10 years into my social work career, the highest I have ever made was $45,000 as a social worker. I am now employed as a different title at a hospital and make over $60000, but no where in my job description am I identified as a social worker. This is truly sad for a profession that requires a master’s degree and state licensure that we are paid so low. I have friends who did not even get college degrees who make more money than LMSW’s. Something definitely needs to change. For a profession who advocates so stongly for our patients and clients, it’s time we advocated for ourselves too! It’s an insult and we should demand better pay and more respect.
I have met only a few social workers that advocate for themselves. Those that remain silent do so to keep their job. It’s a sad commentary when those that are charged to advocate for others don’t have the courage advocate for themselves.
I dont know where you’re getting your stats from but Im a social worker with a Masters Degree and 8 years in the field. I currently earn $28,000 a year. I honestly earned more money prior to earning my degree. I agree with Dee and J Andrews. Our professional culture has provided a climate in which we as helping professionals are made to feel selfish if we advocate for ourselves. But all change must start with one’s self. We should not be expected to advocate for others while we ignore our own needs. I didn’t sign up for that.
Its also important to keep in mind that the article refers to median salaries for social workers. This means that social worker salaries can be lower or higher than the salaries posted in the article. In my case my salary of $ 28,000 is much lower than the so called median salary . If I werent married , I would probably be 40 years old sharing an apartment with a roommate. There is no way I could live alone and in a decent neighborhood on my salary.
I completely agree with this article and feel that the NASW is only insulted when forced to face the obvious plight of todays social worker. I mean lets be realistic. Social workers pay for their educations like any other discipline; however are told that their salaries are quickly capped & they have hit their ceiling. Social workers see twenty cent raises while other disciplines receive thousand dollar raises. They find themselves needing to job hop to maxamize their degree; which in todays environment can be risky and impractical. If it was not for my parents before i got married I could not afford to exist & if it was not for my husband i could not afford to have a family. I am sure any social worker out there would discourage their own children from going into this field. I know i will. While we are concerned about others it will be us that will need someone to be concerned for our own futures. I work with the old and have seen so many retired LSWs with out a dime to retire & it is sad because i am sure at one point in time they paid for that masters like any of us did. I know the NASW is made up of people that care however they are limited to what influence they have over how social workers are treated and compensated.
I am a LCSW. My current salary is $82,000. I do not know where these outrageous figures are coming from. My degree is very valuable. I have a great amount of knowledge and feel my skill set is quite advanced. I feel when society thinks of a social worker, they imagine a local department of social services “caseworker” who holds only a Bachelors degree and lacks the graduate training required to understand this very complex profession. MSW’s are very well trained not only in psychotherapy, but also in policy, advocacy, research, development, environment, and diagnosis. We are not underpaid “caseworkers”
Rebecca,
Do you have your own private practice or work for a hospital/VA system? Do you live in California or New York? Do you have years and years of experience? Location and what sector you work in might be contributing factors to your higher than average salary (among social workers). It seems like many of the commenters on here work for non-profit organizations or underfunded state agencies that utilize bachelor level “caseworkers”. Sadly, while these places have strong need for qualified social workers, it’s also where it pays the least…
Rebecca,
I am a MSW and have been very well trained in the areas you discussed; however still do not see great financial compensation. Everytime i seak another job the salary offered becomes less & this is after ten years of experience. Also, i am usually told we are only looking for a BSW and this is all we will pay. I will consider any suggestions you might have. This is very discouraging and at this point i do not encourage others to go into this field. Also i have a certificate in Gerontology so maybe that attributes to the lesser pay. I have looked at obtaining my license but have been told i would not make any more money doing so. I am just trying to support my family. Thank you.
I have to say I agree with this article. I graduated 5 years ago and have not had many good offers. there have been only a small handful of jobs that were offering low 40′s to start when I was first looking, and now especially in NYC the social work field seems to be flooded, too many social workers and now enough jobs. Many people are taking advantage of this and only hiring fee for service which means they don’t have to provide health care. I haven’t had health insurance for over a year, and had to move in with family. Starting to look at other options if things don’t get better soon, and I hear the same from all of my former classmates.
So, how can we go about starting a union? Nurses have done it and look at their salaries!
The other option is to wait for the NASW to help us, but based on their response to this article they are probably going to continue denying that we are the most OVERWORKED and UNDERPAID masters degrees out there.
The NASW is not going to help us out. I at times question their purpose. They are limited to what they can do for us. Promoting an increase in pay means that they have to admit that we are the most overworked and underpaid master level profession out there. After spending a fortune on this education when i was looking for child care i saw child care workers with no education making what i make an hour. I at this point discourage anyone from going in to social work. If you want to help others have a future i highly recommend we discourage entry into this profession. I am all for a union; i mean at 30+ years of age, no financial resources to obtain additional education and limited options what else is there.
Jose,
I just noticed your message and probably would have commented earlier. I truely sympathize with you. About two years ago i changed jobs due to burn out. During this time i had my husband under my insurance because of the same reasons. Sadly, the insurance was so expensive & my pay was soo low that i couldnt afford my mortgage (incidentally, my family was helping me financially). I was with this company for a little over a year & took the first job that came along. My Quick change to another job was because of the following; After the health insurance came out of my pay i was barely making $70 a day. I am sure that my education cost more than $70 a day to obtain. VERY PATHETIC! Sadly, i have a lot of resentment towards the profession and wish i never went into it. At this point in time i dont work more than 1 job anymore and just do the minimum & i never stress out when it regards anything work related. I dont feel it is worth it because we will never be compensated for our efforts or see nice benefits or raises. Now, i take the advocacy skills i obtained during 5 years of education and advocate against going into this field because of the issues i have encountered. I wish you well.
I am a LCSW in a large metro area in the northeast. I make 60,000 per year at a health insurance company. My title is not social worker but case manager. Although I utilize many social work “skills” when I work with my patients, my work is heavy medical and case management rather than clinical. I am only slightly satisfied with my salary because my work is not high stress, I am not running around in the streets nor am I going into people’s homes. What sucks and is unfair is that the nurses at my job do the SAME EXACT thing I do and make more money. Simply, they are more valued as a profession. Additionally, I am sure HR looks at the average salary for the state and in attempt to be competitive, offers RN’s and SW’s what the stats say we make despite the fact we have same exact duties.
Since I graduated some 15 years ago , I have NEVER worked one job only. Because I live in a very expensive state, it has always been necessary for me to “piece” jobs together (per diem, part time, etc) in order to pay my bills and if Im lucky, have some left for savings and an occasional vacation. The most I have ever made in one year was $130,000. Guess how I did that? I worked TWO FULL TIME jobs as well as a per diem job. I worked as a home care social worker from 7am-3pm and then worked at a hospital as a discharge planner from 3:30-11:30PM. On the weekends, I saw patients as a per diem social worker. Damn near killed myself in the process. Never again.
As someone pointed out previously, I too went into social work because I thought out of all the choices, it was “easy”. I hated and was very poor at math and literally looked for an academic track where I could avoid math. I have met many other social workers who have admitted the same thing. I tell people who are thinking about going into social work to consider other options if they are just dying to “help people”. I tell them to apply to social work school if they dont mind having huge school repayment loans, experiencing lack of professional and community respect, and if they think they can live with being only half a step above those they serve in terms of socio economic attainment.
Here is something to think about when your pursuing your MSW and planning to empower others. When i applied for a government job in social work with a MSW not only was i told i had to sit on a lists/wait to hear but i was also told when i received a call the starting salary was $18,000/yr. Needless to say when they called and said 18 I thought they meant $18/hr. I bypassed this big opportunity. Sadly, i have friends with masters in other fields that are making 3-4x that yearly figure for the government. Now i will do you a better one. The pay today for a government job with a MSW is still $18,000/yr; however now the government is discussing the increase of minimum wage to $9/hr. Well if you do the math the starting salary of a government social worker pays 30 cents more than a minimum wage employee, nice. However, if you have student loans also & your making payments between $600-$800/mo then your making between $700-$900/mo; now this figure does not include taxes either. With the cost of living renting is even out of the question. Might as well have the poorest paid worker helping the most needy. Keep in mind to I live in the state of PA; maybe your state is different. This is how the NASW recognizes us here. If there is a MSW in PA that wants to form a union Im with you. Sadly, when i was obtaining this MSW i was told that i would make $30/hr; sure looks more like $9/hr if your lucky. I guess my NASW dues will be a real priority then. Of course no one tells you this when your going to school; why would they professor want paid like anyone else.
Hello to all! I am set for graduation this May from Stephen F. Austin State University located in Nacogdoches, TX with a MSW. I also graduated from SFASU with my BSW. I am not licensed and have no other experience in the field other then my required internships.
I first began seriously job searching this past March and was astounded at the requirements these agencies wanted. Most wanted experience, a year or more, that particular field. How is that even possible? I came to SFASU in August 2009, graduated with my BSW in December 2011 and went straight into the Masters program, advanced standing, to now graduate in May 2013.
I am astounded and quite disgusted at the salaries being offered to our profession. I have had a job offer with a local agency and the pay would have been 13 dollars an hour. After doing the math, that was just over 27,000 a year. Now this job would have provided me with a paid internship but I declined the offer because I knew this agency was not where I wanted to be. I then began to look at other agencies and the pay was not much more than this offer. Even if I was licensed at the bachelors level I would not be paid more, even with a MSW or as a licensed master level social worker, I would not be paid more.
I have 40,000 dollars in loan debt and I it seems I am not even able to make that much or near that much a year. At 13 dollars an hour, I cannot live independently, but would need a roommate or to live with family.
I am certain my professors have told me throughout my BSW and MSW career that as a MSW I could START with at least 40,000 a year. I have yet to see an offer like that.
There is definitely a lack in pay for Social Workers, whether licensed or unlicensed. And definitely in our Rural areas, like Nacogdoches.
If I had known what I know now, I would have likely taken a year off after my BSW and got a job, then pursed my MSW. Or a Masters in a different degree. I am certainly disappointed and do hope that our future looks brighter!
LaKendra W.
Lakendra-
I have been disappointed with the field for over a decade. I have asked friends with BSWs/MSWs how did they get out of social work & their response is easy i never got into it. My advise & i wish i would have done this myself is to not take a job in social work. Acknowledge you have a masters & avoid anything in this field. If i was to go back 10-12yrs ago i would apply for a job at a bank/ phone/mortgage company, etc and work my way up. Anything else but social work. I mean lets be realistic how much worse can the pay be. I have found once you take a job in this field it is like saying i will work for nothing. After 10yrs of social work jobs that did not pay I was getting offers for less & less; like $13/hr and that is with 10yrs of experience. The other problem is not only do they not want to pay anything then a lot of these positions/companies expect you to work for free on weekends. Very pathetic. So after i am barely clearing $700-$800 every 2 weeks then i am expected to work for nothing all weekend and not increase my salary. Good luck to those paying back student loans. Sadly, one can take a job at Sheetz, make $8.75/hr & not have to pay back thousands in students loans. No loans & an hourly position means your paid an hourly rate and can get paid to work overtime or obtain a 2nd job. I also want to know why does a job in social work always apply a cap on pay raises. After 5 yrs at a company i was told i reached my ceiling. What ceiling i am still being paid nothing. I sympathize with you and have been in your situation. In fact, i am still in your situation and it is a decade later. I am still trying to figure out the purpose of the NASW; to me they can not really do anything for us other than watch us make marginal pay & struggle to pay our loans back. Good luck.