Public perceptions of the social work profession

The research took place in spring 2023. The team recruited 3,032 members of the public, 444 NHS workers and 110 registered social workers for the research, which comprised surveys, interviews and focus groups. They also held in-depth interviews with people with lived experience of social work.

This summary sets out the key findings identified in the research.

Understanding of the social work role

Do people understand who social workers are?

The majority of people understand that social workers can be employed by local councils (82%), but fewer understood that social workers can also work for the NHS (57%). 45% of people mentioned the courts and court services, 39% mentioned charities, and 24% employment agencies.

While most of the general public know that social workers can be employed by local councils, it is clear that more women than men know that social workers can work for councils (84% of women, 80% of men) and the courts (50% of women, 38% of men), but men are more likely to think they work for charities (41% of men, 37% of women).

There is also a divide across ethnic groups within the general public, with people from a white ethnic background being more likely than people from ethnic minorities to think social workers can be employed by:

• local councils (86% from a white ethnic background, 67% from an ethnic minority)
• the NHS (59% from a white ethnic background, 48% from an ethnic minority), and
• courts and court services (48% from a white ethnic background, 31% from an ethnic minority).

There were also regional differences.

A smaller proportion of people in London (73%) and the West Midlands (72%) understood social workers can be employed by local councils, compared to people anywhere else in England (82%). Nearly twice as many people in the West Midlands (11%) were likely to report that they did not know where social workers worked compared to people elsewhere (6%).

What are the features of social work?

Two-thirds of members of the public knew that social workers have to complete a relevant recognised training course or qualification (67%), rising to 87% of healthcare professionals.

Just over half of the public (52%) knew that social workers are regulated, but only a quarter (27%) knew that their professional details are publicly available on the social work register. These figures rose to 75% and 47% among healthcare professionals.

Who do social workers support?

Broadly speaking, people’s understanding of social work focuses primarily on children and people at risk of harm. This is true among the general public and healthcare professionals.

Adults and older adults social work is not widely understood and fewer members of the public named adult (13%) or elderly people as a focus of social work. In the interviews, YouGov found that people who thought social workers worked with older adults in particular were often confusing social workers with social care workers.

People from an Asian background are less likely than those from white, black or mixed ethnic backgrounds to mention that social workers work with children, young people or families (20% Asian background, 40% white, 34% black and 31% mixed background).

When focusing on age, 18 to 24 year olds were more likely than the national average to indicate that they did not know what groups social workers support (53% to 27%).

Do people understand what social workers do?

The general public understand that the day-to-day role of social workers involves talking to people they are supporting and/or assessing the needs of individuals, with 7 in 10 (72% each) choosing these options. Members of the public also said that they:

• complete or manage paperwork about people (67%),
• talk to other professionals about the people they are supporting (65%),
• report allegations of abuse to the authorities (64%),
• remove children/adults from families and place them in care (63%), and
• assess mental or physical capacity (62%).

Exploring some of the negative stereotypes, most of the general public and healthcare professionals understand that social workers rarely or sometimes separate families from their children, with 7 in 10 (71%) English adults recognising this, rising to almost 9 in 10 (87%) healthcare professionals.

Only 13% of English adults think that social workers always or often separate children from their families – a far smaller proportion than those that think that social workers rarely or never take this action (34%).

Perceptions of the profession

How are social workers viewed in society?

Although some stereotypes persist, there are some encouraging findings. Although understanding amongst the public and healthcare workers is skewed towards children’s social work, people are overwhelmingly sympathetic to social workers and their professional aims.

Three quarters (74%) of people believe that social workers want the best for people. 62% say that social workers make a big difference in people’s lives, and just over half (53%) believe that social workers are experts in understanding and meeting people’s needs. The qualitative interviews found that across all audience groups, social workers are largely seen as essential to the continued functioning of society.

They also highlighted that without the support that social workers offer, many people would not receive the care they need, especially older people, people with severe mental ill health, people in poverty, and children. The interviews also showed that the “most negative feelings held towards social work are attributed to […] structures that lead to poor social work, rather than a predisposition for unskilled and/or uncaring individuals to join the profession”.

Over half of English adults are confident in social workers’ ability to do their job well (55%), but this is mostly driven by those who are ‘fairly’ confident (51%).

The overall ‘confident’ proportion rises to 7 in 10 healthcare workers (70%) and nearly 9 in 10 social workers (86%), but again, only a minority are ‘very’ confident. Although on the surface this doesn’t appear encouraging, people were sympathetic towards social workers when asked why this wasn’t higher. 68% of the public – rising to 94% of social workers – identified overwork as a barrier to better practice.

Half of the public – and 79% of social workers – identified that the services social workers could or need to refer people to are inadequate or not present, and 45% of the public and 80% of social workers cited too much paperwork.

Just a quarter of the public, and one in 5 healthcare workers and social workers, said that social workers lacked the training to do a better job and fewer still (1 in 8 members of the public) said that social workers don’t focus on what people want or that they don’t engage with the community.
The most common answers report that social workers are experts in understanding and meeting needs, with half to three-quarters of respondents agreeing with these statements.

Nearly one in 5 people thinks that social work could be done by other professionals with no special training. The qualitative research found some respondents conflate social workers with social care workers, particularly in relation to older adult care.

The qualitative research also found that social workers believe their work is often misunderstood by broader society, which leads to the negative perception of social workers. This misunderstanding is believed to be the fault of the media: both entertainment and news. The majority of social workers feel that the news media focuses on the failings of social workers while ignoring the cases in which social workers succeed in supporting vulnerable individuals and families. Likewise, some social workers commented that entertainment featuring social workers is often called inaccurate, as some mention that in these portrayals social workers would arrive to a family’s home to take away their children, which is not an accurate representation of the purpose of social workers and the authority they hold.

There were also some statistical differences between ethnic groups. Overall, people from ethnic minority groups were less likely to agree that social workers want the best for people they work with than people from white ethnic backgrounds (68% vs 76%). People from a black ethnic background were significantly more positive about social worker, with 82% agreeing with this statement. They are also broadly more likely than other groups to agree with the positive sentiments—74% felt that social workers make a big difference, and 66% said that they are experts in understanding and meeting need.

How well respected are social workers in society?

In this part of the survey, YouGov asked respondents how well respected they felt different groups were within society at large. Doctors were the most well respected, with 90% of the public and healthcare workers, and 99% of social workers, ranking them at the top of the list. Nurses (86% of the public and 89% of social workers), pharmacists (85% of the public and 92% of social workers) and physiotherapists (82% of the public and 91% of social workers) also scored highly.

Lawyers (69% of the public and 86% of social workers) and teachers (67% of the public and 75% of social workers) came next on the list. But here, social workers gave a different sequence of rankings. Social workers felt that bankers (45%) and police officers (36%) were next, and placed themselves at the bottom of the list with just 11% perceiving that social workers were respected in society.

But among the general public, social workers scored four times higher – 44% of people felt social workers were respected, ahead of police officers (42%) and bankers (39%). The qualitative research found that social workers are acutely aware of the lack of respect compared to other caring professions.

Associations with social work

YouGov also asked people what words they associated with social workers, which produced some interesting contrasts. The most popular answers across all groups (public, healthcare professionals, social workers) were under resourced and overworked. More than 6 in 10 members of the public chose these associations.

Encouragingly, the 6 next most popular options were all positive – 36% chose empathetic, 24% trustworthy, 23% accountable, 21% honest, 19% fair and 18% reliable. The highest-scoring negative association was incompetent, from only 16% of the public.

There were also differences between social workers and members of the public in their associated words. Social workers were around 20% more likely to say they were under resourced and overworked. When considering the differences in responses between healthcare professionals and social workers, findings from the interviews suggested that in many cases healthcare professionals felt that if social workers were unable to provide a reliable service, it was not because of personal characteristics but because they were not well supported by tight budgets and workload pressures.

If someone they knew received support from a social worker, the prevailing opinion is that they would be getting the help they need (48%) which is consistent among those whose friends/ family members have experienced social work and those answering hypothetically (46%). Some said they would be worried about what would happen (30% of people with a friend/family member who had experienced social work, 28% of people who did not), and some thought that the person’s life was going to improve (29% of people with a friend/family member who had experienced social work, 24% of people who did not). Less people said they would feel that things were going to worsen (16% of people with a friend/family member who had experienced social work, 7% of people who did not). Broadly speaking, people are positive about the aims of social work and the impact that social workers have on people’s lives.

The experiences of healthcare professionals with social workers

Social workers are seen as having a positive impact on healthcare with 78% of healthcare professionals saying their impact was “very” or “fairly” positive. Among those who frequently interact with social workers this rises to more than 9 in 10.

Understanding and opinions of regulation

98% of social workers have heard of Social Work England. Unsurprisingly, far fewer healthcare workers and members of the general public had also heard of us (37% healthcare workers, 28% general public). People who have had direct lived experience of social work were more likely to have heard of us (44%) compared to 25% of those who have never directly experienced social work support.

Half (49%) of the public understood that one of our roles is to set professional standards, the highest score for any named objective of the regulator. Marginally fewer (47%) knew that we keep a register of social workers. These figures rise to 93% and 90% of social workers. Despite mixed understanding of our specific roles, there was some understanding amongst the respondents that they would be able to complain. if something went wrong, and that social workers are accountable for their practice.

A third felt that having a regulator meant they could trust social workers to act professionally, and a quarter said that it meant they could be confident that social workers work to professional standards, upholding people’s rights, strengths and wellbeing. Regulation is “particularly valued” and drives overall confidence in the profession.

What happens next?

The findings from the research have been useful for guiding our understanding of the perceptions of the public, healthcare professionals, and the profession. The findings of this research are consistent with the intelligence we have gathered through our engagement activities with the sector.

In 2024, we will use the findings from this and our other research to design and deliver a campaign that will promote public confidence in social work. As part of this we would like to inform and educate the public on what social work is and the important role that social workers play in society.

We will continue to engage with the social work sector through our various networks and will highlight this research alongside our other research, ‘The Social Work Workforce’ and ‘Practice Education in England: A National Scoping Review’ during Social Work England’s Social Work Week in March 2024.

Register your place at the upcoming events below:

• Register your place on Social work workforce - the story as we see it: research findings.
  Thursday 21 March 4pm to 5pm.
  
  
• Register your place on Practice education in England: a national scoping review.
  Friday 22 March 1pm to 2pm