I question how the listed median salary was arrived at and also the term 'entry level social work jobs'. As you may or may not be aware, the profession of Social Work is attempting legislative title protection, so that people cannot call themselves social workers without the professional training that gives us the speicialized skills with which we approach problem solving. As far as salary goes, did you include these low-wage earning non-social workers who are employed in jobs where they are termed social workers, but in fact are not? Did you included Licensed Social Workers who have private counseling practices? This significantly alters the median income of the profession and is not mentioned in your discription. As a Licensed MSW, I'm concerned that the above description of the field and note of median wage is quite misleading for the individual who may be considering a career in the field.

I agree with the above comment. The information and wages mentioned in this article are very misleading. I currently work in the social work field and can say that the information regarding pay, the education needed and the word "Entry Level" jobs are misleading. To call yourself a Social worker you need a Masters degree and the pay is more like $16-20 or so an hour. Maybe more but that is what I have heard from many of my collegues.

I did appreciate the article talking about the importance of social workers.

Thank you for the comments. The information in this article was obtained from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Much more information on this topic is available on their site at this Web page.

The information on this page does state that "While a bachelor’s degree is the minimum requirement, a master’s degree in social work or a related field has become the standard for many positions."

The Bureau also gives a much more detailed breakdown of how they arrived at the median wages. It does appear that they are taking a very broad perspective in calculating the medians.

-- Jane Keller Watson
NWjobs.com editor

i dont think social workers should get a raise because they really dont help individuals out

My comment to this is that i dont think any social workers should get a raise. some of them dont take courtesy of their own jobs in helping out their clients.

Social workers would do better to counsel laid off people to organize a third party and take to the streets to challenge the fraudulent two party system and the Wall St welfare queens !

I think that estimate is a bit premature and optimistic, with all the controversy surrounding the job role now, less people are inclined to take it up as a career.