Social workers for children and families
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1. Main facts and figures
- 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
- 70.4% of social workers were white British, and 12.8% were black (out of those whose ethnicity was known)
- by comparison, in the 2011 Census, 78.5% of working age people (16 to 64 year olds) in England identified as white British, and 3.6% identified as black
- in the 4 years to 30 September 2021, 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 (where ethnicity was known), and the percentage from each ethnic group.
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 30 September 2017 and 30 September 2021.
3. By ethnicity
| Ethnicity | % | Number |
|---|---|---|
| All | 100.0 | 27,950 |
| Asian | 5.7 | 1,600 |
| Bangladeshi | 0.6 | 180 |
| Indian | 2.6 | 720 |
| Pakistani | 1.5 | 430 |
| Chinese | 0.1 | 40 |
| Other Asian | 0.8 | 230 |
| Black | 12.8 | 3,590 |
| Black African | 6.4 | 1,790 |
| Black Caribbean | 4.2 | 1,180 |
| Other Black | 2.2 | 620 |
| Mixed | 3.9 | 1,100 |
| Mixed White and Asian | 0.8 | 220 |
| Mixed White and Black African | 0.5 | 140 |
| Mixed White and Black Caribbean | 1.6 | 460 |
| Other Mixed | 1.0 | 290 |
| White | 76.6 | 21,420 |
| White British | 70.4 | 19,690 |
| White Irish | 1.3 | 360 |
| Other White | 4.9 | 1,370 |
| Other | 0.9 | 240 |
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 2021:
- there were 34,680 social workers for children and families employed by local authorities in England, and ethnicity was known for 27,950 of them
- 70.4% were white British, and 12.8% were black (out of those whose ethnicity was known)
- 6.4% were from the black African ethnic group – the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups after the white British group
- 0.1% were from the Chinese ethnic group – the lowest percentage out of all ethnic groups
- by comparison, in the 2011 Census, 78.5% of working age people (16 to 64 year olds) in England identified as white British, 3.6% as black, and 0.9% as Chinese
4. By ethnicity over time
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | 2017 % | 2017 Number | 2018 % | 2018 Number | 2019 % | 2019 Number | 2020 % | 2020 Number | 2021 % | 2021 Number |
| Asian | 5.3 | 1,330 | 5.5 | 1,440 | 5.6 | 1,510 | 5.7 | 1,570 | 5.7 | 1,600 |
| Bangladeshi | 0.6 | 140 | 0.6 | 150 | 0.6 | 170 | 0.6 | 170 | 0.6 | 180 |
| Indian | 2.6 | 660 | 2.5 | 660 | 2.7 | 710 | 2.6 | 730 | 2.6 | 720 |
| Pakistani | 1.3 | 330 | 1.4 | 380 | 1.6 | 420 | 1.6 | 430 | 1.5 | 430 |
| Chinese | 0.1 | 30 | 0.1 | 40 | 0.2 | 40 | 0.1 | 40 | 0.1 | 40 |
| Other Asian | 0.7 | 170 | 0.8 | 210 | 0.7 | 180 | 0.7 | 200 | 0.8 | 230 |
| Black | 10.6 | 2,670 | 11.1 | 2,920 | 12.0 | 3,230 | 12.3 | 3,380 | 12.8 | 3,590 |
| Black African | 4.4 | 1,100 | 4.8 | 1,270 | 5.5 | 1,480 | 6.0 | 1,640 | 6.4 | 1,790 |
| Black Caribbean | 4.5 | 1,130 | 4.4 | 1,140 | 4.4 | 1,180 | 4.3 | 1,180 | 4.2 | 1,180 |
| Other Black | 1.7 | 440 | 1.9 | 500 | 2.1 | 570 | 2.0 | 560 | 2.2 | 620 |
| Mixed | 3.1 | 790 | 3.3 | 880 | 3.5 | 930 | 3.5 | 970 | 3.9 | 1,100 |
| Mixed White and Asian | 0.5 | 130 | 0.6 | 150 | 0.6 | 160 | 0.7 | 190 | 0.8 | 220 |
| Mixed White and Black African | 0.6 | 140 | 0.5 | 140 | 0.5 | 140 | 0.5 | 150 | 0.5 | 140 |
| Mixed White and Black Caribbean | 1.2 | 290 | 1.3 | 340 | 1.4 | 380 | 1.4 | 390 | 1.6 | 460 |
| Other Mixed | 0.9 | 220 | 0.9 | 250 | 0.9 | 250 | 0.9 | 250 | 1.0 | 290 |
| White | 80.0 | 20,150 | 79.0 | 20,770 | 78.0 | 20,980 | 77.7 | 21,370 | 76.6 | 21,420 |
| White British | 73.1 | 18,410 | 71.7 | 18,830 | 70.8 | 19,040 | 71.4 | 19,650 | 70.4 | 19,690 |
| White Irish | 1.6 | 390 | 2.5 | 650 | 1.4 | 390 | 1.3 | 350 | 1.3 | 360 |
| Other White | 5.3 | 1,350 | 4.9 | 1,290 | 5.7 | 1,550 | 5.0 | 1,370 | 4.9 | 1,370 |
| Other | 1.0 | 250 | 1.1 | 280 | 0.8 | 230 | 0.8 | 220 | 0.9 | 240 |
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
The data shows that, between 30 September 2017 and 30 September 2021:
- the total number of social workers for children and families went up from 30,660 to 34,680 (or from 25,190 to 27,950 for those whose ethnicity was known)
- the percentage of social workers who were white went down from 80.0% to 76.6%
- the percentage who were black went up from 10.6% to 12.8% – the highest increase out of all aggregated ethnic groups
5. Data sources
Source
Children's social work workforce 2021
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, Year, Geographic_level, Country_code, Country_name, Headcount, Value, Value_type