Earnings in selected occupations in the social assistance, except child daycare industry in 2002 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.
Table 4. Median hourly earnings of the largest occupations in social assistance, except child daycare, 2002
| Occupation |
Individual and family services |
Community food and housing, and emergency and other relief services |
Vocational rehabilitation services |
All industries |
| Registered nurses |
$20.54 |
|
$21.88 |
$23.12 |
| Mental health and substance abuse social workers |
15.05 |
13.30 |
|
15.79 |
| Child, family, and school social workers |
14.02 |
12.89 |
13.63 |
15.94 |
| Substance abuse and behavioral disorder counselors |
13.64 |
13.73 |
|
14.51 |
| All other counselors, social and religious workers |
13.14 |
11.94 |
12.50 |
14.98 |
| Rehabilitation counselors |
11.88 |
12.03 |
11.89 |
12.43 |
| Social and human service assistants |
10.68 |
10.50 |
10.23 |
11.24 |
| Preschool teachers, except special education |
9.99 |
|
9.09 |
9.26 |
| Personal and home care aides |
8.12 |
8.07 |
8.40 |
7.81 |
| Janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners |
7.80 |
8.39 |
7.66 |
8.77 |
Average earnings in the social assistance industry are lower than the average for all industries, as shown in table 5.
Table 5. Average earnings of nonsupervisory workers in social assistance, 2002
| Industry segment |
Weekly |
Hourly |
| |
|
|
| All private industry |
$506 |
$14.95 |
| |
|
|
| Social assistance |
319 |
10.54 |
Community housing, emergency, and relief services |
383 |
12.06 |
Individual and family services |
354 |
11.43 |
Vocational rehabilitation services |
305 |
10.34 |
Community food services |
302 |
10.62 |
About 15 percent of workers in the social assistance industry were union members or were covered by union contracts in 2002, about the same as workers throughout all industries.
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