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Loading …Social workers are the least likely adult social care staff group to feel valued or that they are making a difference to the people they support, government-commissioned research has found.
As a result of this, and other indicators, such as how safe and autonomous staff feel in their role, social workers have the lowest work-related quality of life of any part of the adult social care workforce in England, according to the survey of 7,233 staff, including 502 social workers.
The research, by Ipsos, Skills for Care and University of Kent, was designed to help the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) understand levels of wellbeing in the adult social care workforce and how this was shaped by working conditions.
Though it was carried out from August to October 2023, the survey results were only released at the end of February 2025.
Measuring workforce wellbeing
The researchers designed a measure, the adult social care outcomes toolkit – workforce (ASCOT-workforce), to capture the impact on quality of life of working in the sector.
This comprised 13 questions: making a difference, relationships with the people cared for, autonomy, time to care, worrying about work, self-care, safety, professional relationships, support in the role, competency, career path, financial security and feeling valued.
The research team calculated a combined score – known as the care work-related quality of life (CWRQoL) – from respondents’ answers, and found that social workers had the lowest average score of all staff groups (20.69), compared with an overall average of 23.30.
Social workers have lowest quality of working life
Social workers’ score was slightly below nurses and nursing associates’ (20.89) and significantly lower than those for all other groups. For example, senior care workers averaged 22.67, occupational therapists 23.17, registered managers 24.72 and personal assistants (PAs) 26.82.
This was driven by social workers’ responses across several domains, with the report revealing that:
- 69% of all staff felt able to make “as much difference as I would like” or “some difference” in their roles, but 41% of social workers felt the same, the lowest of any group.
- Social workers were the most likely to say that their role was “not valued at all” or “not valued as much as I would like by others”, with 72% feeling this way, compared with 41% of all staff.
- Almost two-thirds of all staff (65%) felt they had “as much freedom and independence as I want” or “adequate” freedom, but this fell to a half (51%) for social workers, the lowest of all groups.
- Just under half of all staff (48%) said they had the time they needed or adequate time to do their jobs well, but this rose to over three-quarters (78%) for social workers, also the worst group score.
- Three in ten social workers (30%) said they did not have enough time to do their job well and this was having a negative effect on them, twice the workforce average (15%) and higher than other job roles.
- 54% of all staff said they rarely or sometimes felt unable to look after themselves at work, compared with 64% of social workers, a proportion only exceeded by nurses/nursing associates.
- 14% of all staff – but 28% of social workers – said their relationships with people with care and support needs were not good. Only nurses/nursing associates (31%) scored worse than social workers in this domain.
- Just over half of staff (52%) often or constantly worried about work out of hours, but this was true of 62% of social workers. Two groups had a worse score than social workers on this domain: registered managers (77%) and deputy or other managers, team leaders or
supervisors (67%). - 17% of social workers said they did not have all the skills and knowledge they needed, compared with 11% of staff overall.
Experiences of violence, bullying or harassment
Half (49%) of the workforce had experienced or witnessed physical violence from the people they cared for or supported in the previous 12 months. In this domain, social workers’ score (34%) was below average, with nurses and nursing associates (65%) and senior care workers (63%) carrying the most risk.
However, social workers were more likely than average, or any other group, to have experienced or witnessed harassment, bullying or abuse from the people they cared for or supported in the previous 12 months, with 58% reporting this compared with 46% of all staff.
Social workers were also more likely than average to have experienced or witnessed physical violence from family members or friends of people they cared for or supported (20% as opposed to 13%) or from the public (15% versus 9%).
Most social workers ‘often consider leaving employer’
Reflecting these results, most social workers (59%) reported often thinking about leaving their organisation or employer, above the average for the whole workforce (50%).
However, social workers had more positive scores in relation to learning, development and stimulation at work than other groups.
Almost nine in ten (88%) agreed that their organisation offered them challenging work, compared with 55% of all staff, while over half of social workers (54%) said there were career development opportunities within their organisations, compared with 39% of all respondents.
In addition, over two-thirds of social workers (68%), compared with 56% of the whole sample, said they had opportunities to improve their knowledge and skills, and almost half (46%) said they felt supported to develop their potential, compared with 39% of the workforce overall.
