Social workers for children and families
Published
1. Main facts and figures
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on 30 September 2022, there were 33,690 social workers for children and families employed by local authorities in England, and ethnicity was known for 27,370 (81.2%) of them
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76.1% of social workers were white, and 13.3% were black (out of those whose ethnicity was known)
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by comparison, in the 2021 Census, 80.7% of working age people (16 to 64 year olds) in England identified as white, and 4.4% identified as black
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in the 5 years to September 2022, the percentage of social workers who were white went down, and the percentage who were black went up
2. Things you need to know
What the data measures
The data shows the number of social workers working in children and family services, and the percentage from each ethnic group (out of those whose ethnicity was known).
The data includes social workers who are both:
- registered with Social Work England
- working with children and families in a local authority in England
The data is based on the total number of full-time and part-time social workers counted on 30 September each year.
Numbers of social workers are rounded to the nearest 10. Percentages are rounded to 1 decimal place.
The ethnic groups used in the data
Data is shown for the 16 ethnic groups used in the 2001 Census.
Methodology
Read the detailed methodology document for the data on this page.
In the data file
See Download the data for the numbers of social workers with unknown ethnicity between 2017 and 2022.
3. By ethnicity
| Ethnicity | % | Number |
|---|---|---|
| All | 100.0 | 27,370 |
| Asian | 5.9 | 1,610 |
| Bangladeshi | 0.7 | 180 |
| Chinese | 0.1 | 40 |
| Indian | 2.6 | 720 |
| Pakistani | 1.6 | 450 |
| Asian other | 0.8 | 230 |
| Black | 13.3 | 3,630 |
| Black African | 7.0 | 1,910 |
| Black Caribbean | 4.1 | 1,120 |
| Black other | 2.2 | 610 |
| Mixed | 3.8 | 1,050 |
| Mixed white and Asian | 0.7 | 190 |
| Mixed white and black African | 0.6 | 170 |
| Mixed white and black Caribbean | 1.5 | 420 |
| Mixed other | 1.0 | 270 |
| White | 76.1 | 20,830 |
| White British | 69.7 | 19,080 |
| White Irish | 1.6 | 430 |
| White other | 4.8 | 1,330 |
| Other | 0.9 | 240 |
| Unknown | N/A* | 6,320 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV)
Summary of Social workers for children and families By ethnicity Summary
The data shows that, on 30 September 2022:
- There were 33,690 social workers for children and families employed by local authorities in England, and the ethnicity was known for 81.2% of them.
- Of those whose ethnicity was known, 76.1% of social workers were white, and 13.3% were black
- by comparison, in the 2021 Census, 80.7% of working age people (16 to 64 year olds) in England identified as white, 4.4% as black
- Of the detailed ethnic groups, 7.0% were from the black African ethnic group – the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups after the white British ethnic group
- 0.1% were from the Chinese ethnic group – the lowest percentage out of all ethnic groups
4. By ethnicity over time
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | 2017 % | 2017 Number | 2018 % | 2018 Number | 2019 % | 2019 Number | 2020 % | 2020 Number | 2021 % | 2021 Number | 2022 % | 2022 Number |
| All | 100.0 | 25,190 | 100.0 | 26,280 | 100.0 | 26,880 | 100.0 | 27,510 | 100.0 | 27,950 | 100.0 | 27,370 |
| Asian | 5.3 | 1,330 | 5.5 | 1,440 | 5.6 | 1,510 | 5.7 | 1,570 | 5.7 | 1,600 | 5.9 | 1,610 |
| Bangladeshi | 0.6 | 140 | 0.6 | 150 | 0.6 | 170 | 0.6 | 170 | 0.6 | 180 | 0.7 | 180 |
| Chinese | 0.1 | 30 | 0.1 | 40 | 0.2 | 40 | 0.1 | 40 | 0.1 | 40 | 0.1 | 40 |
| Indian | 2.6 | 660 | 2.5 | 660 | 2.7 | 710 | 2.6 | 730 | 2.6 | 720 | 2.6 | 720 |
| Pakistani | 1.3 | 330 | 1.4 | 380 | 1.6 | 420 | 1.6 | 430 | 1.5 | 430 | 1.6 | 450 |
| Asian other | 0.7 | 170 | 0.8 | 210 | 0.7 | 180 | 0.7 | 200 | 0.8 | 230 | 0.8 | 230 |
| Black | 10.6 | 2,670 | 11.1 | 2,920 | 12.0 | 3,230 | 12.3 | 3,380 | 12.8 | 3,590 | 13.3 | 3,630 |
| Black African | 4.4 | 1,100 | 4.8 | 1,270 | 5.5 | 1,480 | 6.0 | 1,640 | 6.4 | 1,790 | 7.0 | 1,910 |
| Black Caribbean | 4.5 | 1,130 | 4.4 | 1,140 | 4.4 | 1,180 | 4.3 | 1,180 | 4.2 | 1,180 | 4.1 | 1,120 |
| Black other | 1.7 | 440 | 1.9 | 500 | 2.1 | 570 | 2.0 | 560 | 2.2 | 620 | 2.2 | 610 |
| Mixed | 3.1 | 790 | 3.3 | 880 | 3.5 | 930 | 3.5 | 970 | 3.9 | 1,100 | 3.8 | 1,050 |
| Mixed white and Asian | 0.5 | 130 | 0.6 | 150 | 0.6 | 160 | 0.7 | 190 | 0.8 | 220 | 0.7 | 190 |
| Mixed white and black African | 0.6 | 140 | 0.5 | 140 | 0.5 | 140 | 0.5 | 150 | 0.5 | 140 | 0.6 | 170 |
| Mixed white and black Caribbean | 1.2 | 290 | 1.3 | 340 | 1.4 | 380 | 1.4 | 390 | 1.6 | 460 | 1.5 | 420 |
| Mixed other | 0.9 | 220 | 0.9 | 250 | 0.9 | 250 | 0.9 | 250 | 1.0 | 290 | 1.0 | 270 |
| White | 80.0 | 20,150 | 79.0 | 20,770 | 78.0 | 20,980 | 77.7 | 21,370 | 76.6 | 21,420 | 76.1 | 20,830 |
| White British | 73.1 | 18,410 | 71.7 | 18,830 | 70.8 | 19,040 | 71.4 | 19,650 | 70.4 | 19,690 | 69.7 | 19,080 |
| White Irish | 1.6 | 390 | 2.5 | 650 | 1.4 | 390 | 1.3 | 350 | 1.3 | 360 | 1.6 | 430 |
| White other | 5.3 | 1,350 | 4.9 | 1,290 | 5.7 | 1,550 | 5.0 | 1,370 | 4.9 | 1,370 | 4.8 | 1,330 |
| Other | 1.0 | 250 | 1.1 | 280 | 0.8 | 230 | 0.8 | 220 | 0.9 | 240 | 0.9 | 240 |
| Unknown | N/A* | 5,470 | N/A* | 5,450 | N/A* | 6,040 | N/A* | 6,460 | N/A* | 6,730 | N/A* | 6,320 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV)
Summary of Social workers for children and families By ethnicity over time Summary
Numbers and percentages shown below are based on social workers whose ethnicity was known.
The data shows that, between 2017 and 2022:
- the total number of social workers for children and families went up from 25,190 to 27,370
- the percentage of social workers who were white went down from 80.0% to 76.1%
- the percentage who were black went up from 10.6% to 13.3%
5. Data sources
Source
Children's social work workforce
Type of data
Administrative data
Type of statistic
Official statistics
Publisher
Department for Education
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
The figures are used to monitor the diversity of the children’s social work workforce.
6. Download the data
This files contains the following variables: Measure, Ethnicity, Ethnicity_type, Time, Geography, Geography_code, Geography_type, Numerator, Denominator Value, Value_type