What About Social Justice? Wage Equity for Social Workers

The New Social Worker • By Veronica Hardy • May 2024

“There are numerous ways social workers are collaborating and pursuing efforts to promote wage equity and financial capability across the profession. A few examples include the pursuit of paid internships for students, confronting financial systems that impact student borrowers, and the pursuit of legislation that supports wage equity. An overview of each is described below.

Advocating for Paid Internships: In a 2023 Social Work News opinion article titled U.S. Social Workers Are Fighting To Be Paid: It’s Time Social Workers Advocated for Themselves!, Taylor Gilbert stresses the ongoing challenge of social workers being pinned between the decision of pursuing this career and abstaining to avoid incurring significant debt. Gilbert further notes the advocacy efforts taking place by organizations such as Payment 4 Placements (P4P). This movement was developed by students in advocacy for paid internships to decrease socioeconomic challenges experienced by social work students.The P4P movement has chapters spanning across states and universities. Student voices are critical and an important component toward building a holistic approach toward revitalizing the financial conditions of the social work profession. Building strategies to promote financial capability of social workers-in-training teaches students real world advocacy skills in relation to their own situations and how to transition this learning to the broader profession and society post-graduation.”

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