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Social Work during the Covid-19 Pandemic: Initial findings

During 2020, social workers were operating in new circumstances resulting from the global spread of the Covid-19 virus. The pandemic, and the restrictions implemented to control it, impacted on every area of our lives. As part of its response, BASW conducted two surveys exploring the impact of working during the pandemic for social workers. This report presents the initial findings from the second of these two surveys.

Statements covered issues such as access to PPE, employer support, the impact of working during the pandemic on the social worker themselves and ethical and rights concerns. In total, the survey received 1119 responses from across the UK. Findings show that more people are requiring social services, with 67.6% of respondents who worked in children’s services agreed or strongly agreed that they had seen an increase in the number of referrals and/or their caseload since the return to schools and colleges for autumn 2020. Against this backdrop of rising caseloads and depletion of support services, 77.7% agreed or strongly agreed that their experience of working under lockdown restrictions had increased their concerns about the capacity to safeguard/protect adults and children.

Author(s): 
British Association of Social Work (BASW)
Year of Publication: 
2021
Geographic location: 
Resource Type: 
Gray literature
Language: 
English
Section: 
Resource Database