Call for social workers to share their diversity data
By Gemma Raw
Social Work England has called for all social workers to include their equality and diversity information when they renew their registrations.
In June 2021, Social Work England began collecting data from social workers on their ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, religion and belief, and whether their gender identity was different from the sex they were registered with at birth. The aim is to help the regulator identify and respond to inequalities and discrimination within the social care workforce.
However, in July 2022 Community Care reported that only 8% of social workers had shared diversity data with Social Work England. That accounted for just 7,730 of the 98,725 registered social work practitioners (although the figure had risen to 8,600 by August).
In response, Social Work England launched a campaign to encourage social workers to upload their data when they renew their registrations. Getting a more complete picture of the workforce will enable Social Work England to be aware of to the challenges surrounding equality, diversity and inclusion both within and outside the social care profession, as well as ensuring that their policies and processes are fair and equal to everyone.
Widespread support
The Social Work England campaign is backed by a number of organisations which represent and support those working in social care jobs, including the British Association of Social Workers (BASW), Social Workers’ Union, UNISON, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) and the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS).
“Data and diversity are arguably the two of the most important matters in dealing with our valuable and rich workforce," said BAS Chair Julia Ross. "This is vitally important for the regulatory bodies to better understand equality issues, access to continuing professional development as well as future career potential pathways and referrals to fitness to practise hearings.”
Ethnicity in the children's social care workforce
Although there is a limited amount of equality and diversity data available on the wider social care workforce, the government has recently published statistics on ethnicity amongst social workers for children and families:
On 30 September 2021, there were 34,680 social workers for children and families employed by local authorities in England and ethnicity was known for 80.6% of them.
Of those whose ethnicity was known, 12.8% were black. That compares with 3.6% of all working age people in England (as per the 2011 Census).
In the four years to 30 September 2021, the percentage of social workers who were white went down and the percentage who were black went up.
In January 2022, What Works for Children's Social Care published Ethnic minority social workers in the UK: workforce, representation, welfare, retention and progression. This 'rapid review' found that there was little data and evidence available on the wellbeing of ethnic minority social workers. However, black social workers reported working longer hours, which was linked to burnout, and the review also found studies highlighting experiences of racism which impacted on wellbeing.
You can find out more about Social Work England's commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion in social work and regulation here.
