Industry Earnings
Earnings in selected occupations in the social assistance, except child day care industry in May 2004 appear in table 4. As in most industries, professionals and managers—whose salaries reflect higher education levels, broader experience, and greater responsibility—commonly earn more than other workers.
| Occupation | Individual and family services | Community food and housing, and emergency and other relief services | Vocational rehabilitation services | All industries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mental health and substance abuse social workers | $15.77 | $13.41 | $14.12 | $16.31 |
Child, family, and school social workers | 14.75 | 13.78 | 13.90 | 16.74 |
Rehabilitation counselors | 12.64 | 12.68 | 12.80 | 13.40 |
Secretaries, except legal, medical, and executive | 11.54 | 11.47 | 11.48 | 12.55 |
Social and human service assistants | 11.25 | 10.70 | 10.47 | 11.67 |
Office clerks, general | 9.87 | 9.83 | 9.67 | 10.95 |
Child care workers | 9.17 | 9.01 | 8.42 | 8.06 |
Personal and home care aides | 8.48 | 8.15 | 8.76 | 8.12 |
Home health aides | 8.47 | 7.94 | 8.95 | 8.81 |
Janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners | 7.97 | 8.88 | 8.00 | 9.04 |
Average earnings in the social assistance industry are lower than the average for all industries, as shown in table 5.
| Industry segment | Earnings | Weekly hours | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly | Hourly | ||
| |||
All private industry | $528.56 | $15.67 | 33.7 |
| |||
Social assistance | 337.76 | 11.06 | 30.5 |
Community housing, emergency, and relief services | 400.00 | 13.19 | 30.3 |
Individual and family services | 374.86 | 12.14 | 30.9 |
Vocational rehabilitation services | 320.62 | 10.78 | 29.7 |
Community food services | 324.60 | 11.35 | 28.6 |
About 14 percent of workers in the social assistance industry were union members or were covered by union contracts in 2004, about the same as workers throughout all industries.