Social workers' salaries have been a hot topic on CareSpace for the past couple of weeks. On one thread, the discussion has focused on whether or not social workers deserve to be paid more or less than other public sector staff. A central question seems to be, should pay be assessed according to the risk involved in the job?
"I am of the belief that there are public servants who should be paid more than social workers, the police being one of them," says titchmagoo. "The police and firemen risk their lives everyday."
But others, such as adriand, argue that social workers too find themselves in risky and dangerous situations when trying to protect children.
On another thread, CareSpace users have been discussing plans to freeze public sector pay if the Conservatives win the next general election.
"Social workers in the public sector should not be exempt from any pay freeze," says Grinch.
MeJulie agrees: "I think when it comes to the economic crisis in the UK, surely we are all in this together. I think the idea that social workers should be exempt from pay freezes suggests a perceived air of superiority against the hard working people in the private sector workforce."
But Hugz says to suggest a pay freeze is acceptable is "totally outrageous", adding that social workers are "vastly underpaid and undervalued" for the work they do.
In its interim report in July, the Social Work Task Force called for a common career structure possibly linked to a national pay scale. The taskforce's final report will be released next Tuesday, so it will be interesting to see if pay remains a key issue.
Look out for Community Care's recession special next week.
I am a student social worker in my final year, and am seriously considering a career change already. I have been browsing jobs in preperation for graduation, and have realised I can earn alot more money working in an office,project working or doing admin work. Dont get me wrong, im not in it for the money, but with 2700 Social work vacancies, has no one realised realised why?Social workers feel very underpaid and undervalued.