A survey of the social workers by the British Association of Social Workers say that a third of them have said that they were in more debt than a year ago.
They were going into the red with pay cuts and wage freezes bite and had to turn to charity for help. Workers say they were foregoing holidays and struggling to pay for groceries and petrol.
Four-fifths of those surveyed said their pay had been frozen, while 16% have had a pay cut. Many also reported rising costs; 40% reported reduced or axed car allowances and 18% said parking charges had been introduced where this was previously free.
The Social Workers' Benevolent Trust, a small grant giving charity that supports social workers and their dependents who are in financial difficulty, has seen a 60% rise in applications for help compared with last year.
The trust, which supports working or retired practitioners, often experiencing illness, disability, bereavement, relationship breakdown or loss of employment, finds itself facing its greatest challenges since it was established some 41 years ago.
With sharp decline in the availability of both permanent posts and work through social work agencies has seen greater numbers of social workers finding themselves out of work.
One applicant to the trust wrote that he had been a worker for over 25 years and after a bout of illness was trying to find work but there were no suitable jobs out there though he looked for it on a daily basis.
There problem is evident with the applications for assistance going up, the size of grants requested rising, and the number of grants given was also up. But, until BASW members stepped in and voted unanimously to increase the levy from subscriptions that it pays to the trust, income was down on previous years.
But the most worrying factor was the upsurge of the number of applicants to the trust who have turned to payday loans to help them manage for a short term difficulty but many have ended up in a worse position with extension to those loans and becoming even more indebted.
While most loans of this type are legitimate regulated financial products, they come with exorbitant interest rates and often seem to end up accelerating the downward spiral of debt that some find themselves facing.
With uncertainty looming large over improvement in the situation the trust would have to find further ways to increase its income to meet the increased demands on its limited resources. The additional funding from BASW members was most welcome and a fantastic start but if there was more, many could be helped.
They were going into the red with pay cuts and wage freezes bite and had to turn to charity for help. Workers say they were foregoing holidays and struggling to pay for groceries and petrol.
Four-fifths of those surveyed said their pay had been frozen, while 16% have had a pay cut. Many also reported rising costs; 40% reported reduced or axed car allowances and 18% said parking charges had been introduced where this was previously free.
The Social Workers' Benevolent Trust, a small grant giving charity that supports social workers and their dependents who are in financial difficulty, has seen a 60% rise in applications for help compared with last year.
The trust, which supports working or retired practitioners, often experiencing illness, disability, bereavement, relationship breakdown or loss of employment, finds itself facing its greatest challenges since it was established some 41 years ago.
With sharp decline in the availability of both permanent posts and work through social work agencies has seen greater numbers of social workers finding themselves out of work.
One applicant to the trust wrote that he had been a worker for over 25 years and after a bout of illness was trying to find work but there were no suitable jobs out there though he looked for it on a daily basis.
There problem is evident with the applications for assistance going up, the size of grants requested rising, and the number of grants given was also up. But, until BASW members stepped in and voted unanimously to increase the levy from subscriptions that it pays to the trust, income was down on previous years.
But the most worrying factor was the upsurge of the number of applicants to the trust who have turned to payday loans to help them manage for a short term difficulty but many have ended up in a worse position with extension to those loans and becoming even more indebted.
While most loans of this type are legitimate regulated financial products, they come with exorbitant interest rates and often seem to end up accelerating the downward spiral of debt that some find themselves facing.
With uncertainty looming large over improvement in the situation the trust would have to find further ways to increase its income to meet the increased demands on its limited resources. The additional funding from BASW members was most welcome and a fantastic start but if there was more, many could be helped.
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