Below inflation pay rise for social workers and social work England fees to rise to £120

Seems a little unfair to bring nurses into it, about 50% of all nursing jobs are band 5 which even with the 3.6% pay rise will max out at 37k (with 5 years experience minimum) and many of them are in roles where they're not only responsible for people's health and wellbeing, medication, supporting families and supervision of HCAs but also dealing with legal paperwork, safeguarding issues and significant violence and agression.

Race to the bottom and we all lose.

Not necessarily, there are social workers everywhere- even in (shock/horror) very middle class areas! My only point was that (and it seems to have annoyed a lot of people- presumably mostly inexperienced social workers) is that three years is not long in any career and that 37k is a very reasonable starting salary for a social worker as it would be for a teacher.

I doubt any social worker would want nurses and teachers to get less, or begrudge them their pay rise. It's the disparity that's galling.

Honestly, I don't actually disagree, but the question of whether it's an adequate salary is a red herring and not what the OP was cross about. The below inflation pay rise is the issue.

There isn't a massive shortage of nurses though. I know so many who are really struggling to find their first jobs. Same with physios.
As for junior Drs, their recruitment situation is appalling.
A few short years ago our local Trust was sending medical consultants and HR officials over to India on jollies and recruiting 40 nurses per trip. Now there are no jobs left for those qualifying. Typical NHS mismanagement. No foresight, no long term vision.

The whole of the public services seem to be being downgraded. I sympathise with social workers, it's a thankless job and I couldn't do it. However to get annoyed because nurses and teachers got a slightly better pay award is so churlish. They are struggling too.

Really considering moving to something self employed soon. My dog walker earns more than me as a HCP.

Why is it nasty?

I'm a qualified social worker but what I used to do was not social work...it was case management!

Read 'becoming a social worker' by Cree and in there you'll real stories from people practicing as proper, on the ground social workers.

Most people think being a SW is the good stuff...the direct work, seeing outcomes being part of that. The reality case management and managing risk .....
I used to interview prospective student SWs. Bless them...so many wanted to 'make a difference '...placements were often a huge shock as to the reality of the role.

Also the title social worker is a protected title now. I was called a residential social worker back in the 1990s with zero experience but what we did was hands on social work!

Yes they can be, as you say private sector is a big area. And also equivalent to similar responsibility public sector jobs - teachers reach £37k at 3 years. Nurses however don’t reach that until 4 years. £37k really isn’t a bad salary.

You worked in rough areas.Do you think the SWs we are talking about work in 'leafy suburbs'?

It didn’t and I’m definitely not bitter, but think what you want to think.

What are you even on about?

Are you just bitter that it took you longer to earn £37k?!

If that’s correct (and I’m not saying it isn’t) where do the Managers come from ? The Management Fairy ?

What on earth is this nasty post about? Domiciliary carers should be paid more, but they aren't social workers.

I apologise, after 4 years.

I became a senior social worker after 4 years post qualifying.
I'd worked 5 years in social care with young people before I started the degree, therefore 12 years of practice Inc study before I took a senior post!
If it wasn't for the shortages I'd say bring back minimum age of 25 and with lots of experience before doing the qualification.

No, social workers are fully qualified after their first year, assuming they pass.
Social workers with 3 years experience post qualifying are considered experienced enough to carry high caseloads, issue court proceedings, carry out high risk child protection investigations. There is no concept of protected workload in social work after the first 12 months. Given the poor retention rates for the profession, 3 years is absolutely considered experienced, by every metric I know the word.

Exactly this. The people looking those we love who we can’t minimum wage are the ones who deserve a pay raise. Not the people who are complaining 37k isn’t enough

Three years is not fresh. Its haggard by then. Look at the little picture on their badge when they were newly qualified, all fresh faced and perky. Look at them now, sallow, grey, exhausted.

Honestly 3 years in a busy social worker team wouldn’t be considered fresh, or inexperienced. The speed and variety of work, the level of skill you develop at speed and the level of decision making means you grow up very quickly indeed. And most social workers come from having worked in similar fields, so aren’t starting from scratch to begin with. There’s really no comparison to teaching in terms of speed of professional development.

🥱.

The OP will probably die of stress before she can claim it, given it runs in line with the increasingly elusive state retirement age.

The real social workers...the real ones who are hands on and not the case management role it's become should be on £35k plus...

The real social workers....the domiciliary carers. These people ensure people's most basic needs are being met but they're on minimum wage. That's the real travesty.

No, they wouldn’t. Look at the teaching pay scales.

Teachers are- PGCE, then two years of ECT. Although this isn’t the case in social services, surely 3 years is very fresh? And yes I understand that there is low staff retention and high turnover but that is very much the case in teaching- and we still don’t consider teachers with three years under their belt ‘experienced’

I don’t think most people have any understanding of the level of risk you are working at as a social worker both in terms of managing children’s safety as well as your own. Whilst £37,000 may seem like a good salary, I have to say it pales into significance when you consider the work undertaken. I started as a children and families social worker over 20 years ago on £18,750, which was low in comparison to neighbouring authorities but only by a couple of thousand. Shockingly low. The workload has increased over the years as well as the risk to personal safety. It was unmanageable 20 years ago but social workers remained in the profession for longer so there was more support and knowledge. I left and wouldn’t return in the basis that I’m not prepared to give up my life again. I worked until 10pm and beyond every night for years, worked through or cancelled my annual leave and had to justify not agreeing to court hearings being listed when I was on holiday abroad as it was considered appropriate for social workers to forgo their holidays (along with their family). It’s one of the most important professions yet least valued.

There are advanced practice posts which don’t have management responsibilities and specialist roles that don’t have management responsibility. But also a main grade social worker with 3 years experience should be earning a reasonable wage. A qualified teacher with 3 years experience and no management duties would be earning more.