Social workers are quitting in record numbers as they struggle to cope with more challenging caseloads stemming from austerity, the pandemic and the cost of living crisis.
The scale of the crisis in children’s social work is revealed in figures for 2022 published by the Department for Education, which show the number of professionals has fallen for the first time since data collection began in 2017 – despite rising need.
The figures, which note that a third of local authorities cite staff recruitment and retention as a challenge, show 5,400 social workers left the profession in 2022, a 9% rise on the previous year and the highest number since 2017. Vacancies are also at a record high of 7,900, a 21% rise on 2021.
Ruth Allen, chief executive of the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) said the figures “are not a surprise” as working conditions have “been deteriorating year after year”, with far more cases descending into crisis than a decade ago and worsening conditions from the pandemic and cost of living crisis.
“You’ve got much more inequality, many more people proportionally living in poverty and relative poverty, even destitution – those circumstances are stresses on families and create need of all kinds. The relationship between poverty and demand on services cannot be missed and this government will not talk about it,” she said.
She added: “People don’t necessarily want to leave social work, but they want to leave the frontline because the expectations and legal and statutory responsibilities are not matched by the resources. You’re left in a complete bind far too often. They’re having to let fewer people in through the crisis door, and there are no preventative services available so the whole system is out of whack.”
Early figures from BASW research show social workers see dwindling resources and colleagues leaving en masse as their biggest challenges – and these fears are growing. In 2022, 68% cited funding as a key challenge, compared with 59% in 2021, while 54% cited recruitment and retention, up from 28%.
Best said that social workers work an average of 11 extra unpaid hours a week, as well as “putting their hands in their pocket” to support families. This is despite research showing social workers experienced the worst public sector pay growth, with growing numbers of BASW members reporting using food banks and asking for help with bills and debts.
A Unison survey of 3,000 social workers found almost three-quarters (72%) felt their workload intensified during the pandemic, raising stress and lowering morale, while 53% were considering quitting.
Unison’s national officer for social work, Gill Archer, said members cited “dangerous” workloads in which they are increasingly left holding the risk for cases, “picking up pieces of other [charity and local government] services that have been cut to the bone”.
Rachael Wardell, workforce development committee chair at The Association for Directors of Children’s Services, said that mental health is increasingly “dominating the caseloads”, yet it is harder to secure access to treatment.
In February, the government published a plan to overhaul the social care system, but this was criticised for committing just £200m compared with the £2bn recommended.
BASW said there needs to be a “clear and funded plan” to improve pay and conditions to keep experienced social workers, and bigger student bursaries to attract new recruits. BASW also wants an end to local authorities’ costly reliance on profit-seeking agencies supplying temporary workers – DfE figures show these at an all-time high, and a 13% increase on 2021.
Ray Jones, emeritus professor of social work at Kingston University, said experienced workers being replaced with newly qualified or temporary agency staff means relationships are not built with vulnerable families, resulting in poorer outcomes.
The risks have been shown in safeguarding reviews after a series of scandals. A review of Bradford’s children’s services following Star Hobson’s death found record levels of vacancies and sickness among social workers.
Tackling crises rather than able to offer early intervention means that social workers are forced into taking dramatic action, for instance removing children from their families through the courts, he said. This leaves social workers feeling unsafe, he added, since if anything goes wrong they are vilified by the media.
Jones expects the bleak picture to continue: “The political promise and intention is of even darker times ahead with more families struggling and with the decimation of the help they need.”
A Department for Education spokesperson said the government is “taking forward ambitious plans to recruit up to 500 new child and family social worker apprentices, and introducing more support and professional development for a social worker’s first five years of their careers.
“To reduce the use of agency social workers we are capping the amount a local authority can pay for them, and introducing a minimum level of experience required.”
