Social Work Workforce Employment Trends through the Lens of Family and Household Characteristics

Background: Social workers (SW) have experienced rising workloads and demands, resulting in burnout and workforce attrition. Research on other health professions has examined how family and household characteristics, particularly caregiving responsibilities, influence workforce retention, attrition, and work schedules (full-time versus part-time); however, how family structure and economic responsibilities impact the capacity of the SW workforce is understudied. This study identified trends in SW workforce employment status (i.e., full-time, part-time, not employed) by employment setting, geographic location, educational attainment, age, race/ethnicity, and sex, and then examined how family and household-level characteristics predict employment status. Understanding these patterns is critical to ensuring the SW workforce is equipped to meet evolving community social and behavioral health needs.

Methods: We analyzed repeated cross-sectional data from two, two-year time periods (2018-2019 and 2023-2024) from the American Community Survey. Survey-weighted descriptive analyses estimated employment status and household characteristics among master’s and doctoral level SWs (inclusive of child/family/school SWs, healthcare SWs, mental health/substance use SWs, and other SWs). We pooled data across all years and fit a survey-weighted multivariable logistic regression model with fixed effects for survey year to estimate associations between employment status and demographic, caregiving responsibilities, and household characteristics.

Findings: From 2018-2024, the master’s and doctoral level SW workforce increased by 8.7% (2018-2019: n= 362,549; 2023-2024: n= 394,001). Across the study years, SW’s working in mental health/substance abuse increased by 118% (16,293 to 35,590). Overall, 88% of the sample were employed, with 70% working full time, 13% working part time, and 17% working consistent overtime hours. Mental health/substance use SWs were 3.3 times more likely to work part-time compared to other types of SWs. Of employed SW’s, 1.2% worked remotely in 2018-2019 while 6.8% worked remotely in 2023-2024. Across all study years, approximately 85% were female, 47% of the sample were over the age of 46, 7% had an infant in the home, and 45% had three or more individuals in their family unit. Individual demographic and family characteristics predicted full-time employment within the SW workforce. Notably, females (AOR=0.66), those with an infant in their home in the last year (AOR=0.42), and those over the age of 56 (AOR=0.23) were significantly less likely to be employed.

Conclusions/Implications: The master’s and doctoral level SW workforce had meaningful growth from 2018-2024; however, 12% of graduate level SWs were unemployed and a considerable number of SW’s work part-time. Caregiving responsibilities and being near retirement age were associated with lower odds of employment, suggesting that policies and workplace practices that reduce caregiving and late-career barriers could increase full-time workforce participation. Policy and practice levers to sustain employment include paid family leave, affordable childcare, flexible/hybrid work, and phased retirement. Employers should also provide supportive supervision, manageable caseloads, and pathways for part-time workers to increase hours and access benefits. Social workers who leave during intensive caregiving periods could benefit from re-entry supports such as streamlined licensure renewal and continuing education. Together, these strategies may expand the SW workforce capacity by reducing burnout and supporting caregivers in this predominantly female profession.