Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to provide a profile of the nonlicensed social work workforce to fill crucial knowledge gaps about the workforce. Methods: Descriptive analyses were conducted on a sample of 1,625 nonlicensed social workers from the 2024 Workforce Survey. Results: Nonlicensed social workers primarily worked in individual and family services, where a social work degree was preferred but licensure was not required. About half assisted clients with limited incomes from minoritized backgrounds. Master's level social workers often served as direct service providers and administrators, whereas bachelor's level workers frequently served as case managers. Approximately 15.60% of bachelor's level and 17.23% of master's level social workers were primarily engaged in macro practitioner roles. Many were seeking more education, licensure, and career opportunities as social workers. Discussion: Future studies should examine how social work degrees and licenses help social work candidates navigate the social services and behavioral healthcare job market.

Keywords

social work workforce workforce survey nonlicensed social workers bachelor's social workers master's social workers

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Apgar

(2020). Increasing social work students’ participation in macro specializations: The impossible dream? Advances in Social Work, 20(3), 709–724. https://doi.org/10.18060/24045

Arrington

(2008). Stress at work: How do social workers cope? NASW membership workforce study. National Association of Social Workers. https://www.fhsu.edu/socialwork/field-resources/nasw-study-on-stress.pdf

Association of Social Work Boards. (2024). First-ever social work census aims to assess profession and shape its future. https://www.aswb.org/first-ever-social-work-census-aims-to-assess-profession-and-shape-its-future/

Association of Social Work Boards. (2025). Laws and regulations database. https://www.aswb.org/regulation/laws-and-regulations-database/

Beck

Singer

Buche

Manderscheid

Buerhaus

Tuoh

C. M.

(2016). A minimum data set for the behavioral health workforce. Behavioral Health Workforce Research Center, University of Michigan. https://behavioralhealthworkforce.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/MDS-for-Behavioral-Health-Workers-An-Implementation_Full-Study.pdf

Birkenmaier

Berg-Weger

(2017). The practice of generalist social work. Routledge.

Council on Social Work Education. (2024). 2022–2023 The state of social work education in the United States: Summary of the CSWE annual survey of social work programs. https://www.cswe.org/getattachment/61b4f594-6109-43f7-9acd-49b6e9cd5131/cswe_2022-2023-summary-of-the-us-annual-survey-of-social-work-programs.pdf

Council on Social Work Education. (2025). Social work at a glance. https://www.cswe.org/students/prepare-for-your-education/social-work-at-a-glance/

Donaldson

L. P.

Hill

Ferguson

Fogel

Erickson

(2014). Contemporary social work licensure: Implications for macro social work practice and education. Social Work, 59(1), 52–61. https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/swt045

10.

Fisher

Corciullo

(2011). Rebuilding community organizing education in social work. Journal of Community Practice, 19(4), 355–368. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705422.2011.625537

11.

Gerolamo

A. M.

Delaney

K. R.

Phoenix

Black

Rushton

Stallings

(2022). Psychiatric nursing workforce survey: Results and implications. Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, 30(3), 690–696. https://doi.org/10.1177/10783903221146190

12.

Healthcare Regulatory Research Institute. (2023). A roadmap for enhancing state health workforce data: Implementation guide for the cross-profession minimum data set. https://www.hrri.org/workforce-cpmds

13.

Hughes

J. C.

Kim

Twill

S. E.

(2018). Social work educational debt and salary survey: A snapshot from Ohio. Social Work, 63(2), 105–114. https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/swy001

14.

Kim

J. J.

(2025). The self-identified social work workforce: Analyses of the U.S. Census Bureau’s household surveys. First Report of the 2024 Social Work Workforce Study Series. Submitted to the Association of Social Work Boards. https://swcensus.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Social-Work-Workforce-Study-Series-Report-1.pdf

15.

Kim

J. J.

Joo

M. M.

Curran

(2023). Social work licensure: Earnings premium and gender disparity. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research, 14(3), 591–608. https://doi.org/10.1086/717330

16.

Kulas

J. T.

Robinson

D. H.

Smith

J. A.

Kellar

D. Z.

(2018). Post-stratification weighting in organizational surveys: A cross-disciplinary tutorial. Human Resource Management, 57(2), 419–436. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.21796

17.

Liddell

Lass

(2019). Where’s the community practice? Gaps in community practice education in a clinical-community social work program. Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 39(1), 42–59. https://doi.org/10.1080/08841233.2018.1548408

18.

Lightfoot

Nienow

Moua

K. N. L.

Colburn

Petri

(2016). Insights on professional identification and licensure from community practice social workers. Journal of Community Practice, 24(2), 123–146. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705422.2016.1165328

19.

Little

R. J. A.

(1993). Post-stratification: A modeler’s perspective. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 88(423), 1001–1012. https://doi.org/10.2307/2290792

20.

Reisch

(2016). Why macro practice matters. Journal of Social Work Education, 52(3), 258–268. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2016.1174652

21.

Royal

K. D.

(2019). Survey research methods: A guide for creating post-stratification weights to correct for sample bias. Education in the Health Professions, 2(1), 48–50. https://journals.lww.com/ehpf/fulltext/2019/02010/survey_research_methods__a_guide_for_creating.9.aspx. https://doi.org/10.4103/EHP.EHP_8_19

22.

Salsberg

Quigley

Richwine

Sliwa

Acquaviva

Wyche

(2020). Findings from three years of surveys of new social workers: A report to the Council on Social Work Education and the National Association of Social Workers. The George Washington University Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity. https://www.cswe.org/cswe/media/workforce-study/the-social-work-profession-findings-from-three-years-of-surveys-of-new-social-workers-dec-2020.pdf

23.

Straussner

S. L. A.

Senreich

Steen

J. T.

(2018). Wounded healers: A multistate study of licensed social workers’ behavioral health problems. Social Work, 63(2), 125–133. https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/swy012

24.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2024a). Household data annual averages 36. Multiple jobholders by selected characteristics. https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat36.htm

25.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2024b). Median years of tenure with current employer for employed wage and salary workers by age and sex, selected years, 2014–2024 (Economic News Release, Table 1). https://www.bls.gov/news.release/tenure.t01.htm

26.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2024c). Employee benefits in the United States, March 2024. https://www.bls.gov/ebs/publications/employee-benefits-in-the-united-states-march-2024.htm

27.

Whitaker

(2008). In the red: Social workers and educational debt. NASW membership workforce study. National Association of Social Workers. https://web.archive.org/web/20220127235015/https:/www.socialworkers.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=cndL4_gur88%3D&portalid=0

28.

Yoon

(2012). Debt burdens among MSW graduates: A national cross-sectional study. Journal of Social Work Education, 48(1), 105–125. https://doi.org/10.5175/JSWE.2012.201000058

29.

Zerden

L. D. S.

Sheely

Despard

M. R.

(2016). Debunking macro myths: Findings from recent graduates about jobs, salaries, and skills. Social Work Education, 35(7), 752–766. https://doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2016.1188915

The Nonlicensed Social Work Workforce From the 2024 Social Work Workforce Survey

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References