Scottish social services workforce data
The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) has published its 2017 Workforce Data Report showing an increase in the size of the social service workforce, increasing to 202,090 which is a 0.7% rise since 2016 – the highest recorded since the reports began.
The social service workforce makes up approximately 7.7% of all Scottish employment. The whole time equivalent (WTE) measure of the workforce is 150,960, an increase of 0.3% since 2016.
The three largest areas of the workforce includes child day care, with the other areas being housing support/care at home and care homes for adults. Combined these account for 78% of the workforce.
Further to this, the report shows that the percentage of men working in the sector is 15%, although it is around double or greater that proportion in criminal justice and residential children’s services.
The report combines administrative data from the Care Inspectorate with data collected by the SSSC directly from local authorities to form a comprehensive picture of the paid workforce employed in the social service sector in Scotland at the end of 2017. The SSSC is an official statistics provider.