Family social workers are one of the least happy careers in the United States.
At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, family social workers rate their career happiness 2.8 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 17% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy family social workers are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:
Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers
| Career | Satisfaction | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Occupational therapist | 2.9 | $66k |
| Psychiatric aide | 2.9 | $29k |
| Social worker | 2.9 | $43k |
| Personal care aide | 2.8 | $25k |
| Psychiatric technician | 2.8 | $23k |
| Family social worker | 2.8 | $28k |
| Medical administrative assistant | 2.8 | $19k |
| Healthcare social worker | 2.8 | $47k |
| Speech language pathologist | 2.7 | $52k |
| Substance abuse social worker | 2.7 | $51k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are family social workers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do family social workers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as family social workers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are family social worker’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are family social workers making the best use of their abilities?
Are family social workers happy with their salary?
Family social workers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.4/5. Most family social workers do not feel that their salaries adequately reflect their work, and are actively unhappy with their income.
We asked family social workers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
2.4 out of 5 stars
771 family social workers
7% of family social workers rated their compensation 5 stars
15% of family social workers rated their compensation 4 stars
23% of family social workers rated their compensation 3 stars
27% of family social workers rated their compensation 2 stars
28% of family social workers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do family social workers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, family social workers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.5/5. Unlike many careers, family social workers have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become family social workers.
We asked family social workers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.5 out of 5 stars
777 family social workers
25% of family social workers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
27% of family social workers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
26% of family social workers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
13% of family social workers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
8% of family social workers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as family social workers?
Family social workers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.7/5. The majority of family social workers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked family social workers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.7 out of 5 stars
826 family social workers
29% of family social workers rated their career fit 5 stars
35% of family social workers rated their career fit 4 stars
22% of family social workers rated their career fit 3 stars
9% of family social workers rated their career fit 2 stars
5% of family social workers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a family social worker’s work environment?
As a whole, family social workers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.2/5. Most of them tend to enjoy, or at least not be actively bothered by, their work environment.
We asked family social workers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.2 out of 5 stars
821 family social workers
15% of family social workers rated their work environment 5 stars
30% of family social workers rated their work environment 4 stars
25% of family social workers rated their work environment 3 stars
21% of family social workers rated their work environment 2 stars
9% of family social workers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are family social workers making the best use of their abilities?
Former family social workers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.2/5. Most family social workers are satisfied with how well their abilities are skills are made of use.
We asked family social workers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.2 out of 5 stars
827 family social workers
17% of family social workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
26% of family social workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
25% of family social workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
21% of family social workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
11% of family social workers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars