Social Assistance: NAICS 624

About the Social Assistance subsector

The social assistance subsector is part of the health care and social assistance sector.

The social assistance subsector consists of these industry groups:

• Individual and Family Services: NAICS 6241
• Community Food and Housing, and Emergency and Other Relief Services: NAICS 6242
• Vocational Rehabilitation Services: NAICS 6243
• Child Day Care Services: NAICS 6244

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment and unemployment in social assistance. While most data are obtained from employer or establishment surveys, information on industry unemployment comes from a national survey of households. The following tables present an overview of the industry including the number of jobs, the unemployment rate of those previously employed in the industry, mass layoffs, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.

Employment, Unemployment, and Layoffs

Data series	Back data	Dec. 2008	Jan. 2009	Feb. 2009	Mar. 2009
Employment (in thousands)
Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)		2,541.1	2,540.1	(P) 2,540.6	(P) 2,541.9
Employment, nonsupervisory workers		2,214.4	2,200.5	(P) 2,206.1
Unemployment
Unemployment rate		7.1%	7.3%	6.5%	7.4%
Layoffs
Mass layoff events		19	12	10	7
Initial claimants for unemployment benefits		1,553	744	627	442
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Current Population Survey, Mass Layoff Statistics)

Extended Mass Layoffs

Data series	Back data	1st quarter 2008	2nd quarter 2008	3rd quarter 2008	4th quarter 2008
Extended mass layoff events		3	159	(P) 44	(P) 11
Separations		455	19,204	(P) 4,241	(P) 1,947
Initial claimants		385	18,386	(P) 3,625	(P) 1,819
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Mass Layoff Statistics)

Employment by Occupation

Data series	Employment, 2008
Child care workers	261,110
Child, family, and school social workers	76,340
Personal and home care aides	273,630
Social and community service managers	40,520
Social and human service assistants	119,450
Note: These employment estimates include employment in both the private-sector and government.

(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)

Projections

For projected (future) employment estimates, see the National Employment Matrix, which includes employment estimates by industry and occupation for social assistance.

(Source: Office of Occupational Statistics and Employment Projections)

Earnings and Hours

This section presents data on employee earnings and weekly hours. The latest industry averages of hourly earnings and weekly hours for production or nonsupervisory employees are shown. In addition, recent hourly and annual earnings are shown for occupations commonly found in social assistance.

Earnings and Hours of Production Workers

Data series	Back data	Nov. 2008	Dec. 2008	Jan. 2009	Feb. 2009
Average hourly earnings		$12.65	$12.68	$12.75	(P) $12.73
Average weekly hours		30.5	29.7	29.5	(P) 30.3
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation

Data series	Wages, 2008
	Hourly		Annual
	Median	Mean	Median	Mean
Child care workers	$8.49	$8.95	$17,660	$18,610
Child, family, and school social workers	$16.33	$17.37	$33,970	$36,120
Personal and home care aides	$9.74	$9.89	$20,270	$20,580
Social and community service managers	$24.71	$27.42	$51,400	$57,040
Social and human service assistants	$12.23	$12.86	$25,430	$26,740

(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)

Work-related Fatalities, Injuries, and Illnesses

This section presents data for the industry on the number of workplace fatalities and the rates of workplace injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers in social assistance. An injury or illness is considered to be work-related if an event or exposure in the work environment either caused or contributed to the resulting condition or significantly aggravated a pre-existing condition.

Data series	2004	2005	2006	2007
Fatalities
Number of fatalities	22	26	34	23
Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers
Total recordable cases	3.9	4.3	3.9	3.9
Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer	2.1	2.2	1.9	1.9
Cases involving days away from work	1.2	1.3	1.2	1.3
Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction	0.8	0.9	0.8	0.6

(Source: Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments in social assistance.

Establishments

Data series	Back data	4th quarter 2007	1st quarter 2008	2nd quarter 2008	3rd quarter 2008
Number of establishments
Private industry		155,798	(P) 159,148	(P) 161,989	(P) 164,180
Local government		2,531	(P) 2,579	(P) 2,586	(P) 2,590
State government		2,603	(P) 2,735	(P) 2,730	(P) 2,743
Federal government		186	(P) 188	(P) 187	(P) 187
Footnotes (P) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Other BLS Resources

Career Guide to Industries

See child day care services and social assistance, except child day care in the Career Guide to Industries.

 

Data extracted on: May 01, 2009