OLMIS

by Shawna Sykes
Published Apr-18-2012

One-Third of Jobs Help Elderly and Disabled Most Common Jobs Which Skills Do You Need to Work in This Industry? Women Dominate the Industry's Workforce but Still Earn Less Food for Thought Industry Projected to Grow

Recessionary times have led many Oregonians to seek out social assistance services to make it through financial and emotional struggles. Whether you're looking for a job, counseling through a difficult time, care for your children or elderly parent, help with housing or a hot meal, Oregon's social assistance industry providers are here to help.

United Way of Columbia County located in Northwest Oregon helps support many social assistance programs. Programs include local senior citizen centers; emergency, low income housing and energy assistance providers; mental health, drug and alcohol intervention counselors; and local food banks, to name a few. Kathye Beck, Executive Director of the organization, states that, "The needs continue to increase. Right now organizations are just working to support basic needs for survival. Many who had never sought assistance in the past and who had in fact been previous donors to the organization are struggling to survive. Maybe they were downsized from a high-wage position and obtained a new job earning only one-fourth or one-half of their previous income while at the same time housing costs remain the same and food, gas, and utility costs have increased, so they seek out help. Some have lost their homes to foreclosure and been forced to take their pets to the animal shelter because they can no longer afford to keep them. It's very difficult."

Covered employment in the social assistance industry in Oregon has grown quickly in the past few years, from more than 46,000 in 2009 to 48,500 in the first three quarters of 2011 (up 5.5%). The industry contributed nearly $1.06 billion in payroll statewide. About 62 percent of its employment is in the private sector and 38 percent is in government. Covered employment counts only employees who are covered by unemployment insurance. The self employed also contribute significantly to this industry; there were 13,740 non-employer establishments in Oregon with $167 million in sales receipts in 2009 according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Services for the elderly and disabled make up the largest portion of the social assistance industry, with one-third of the industry's total covered employment in Oregon - an average of 15,922 jobs statewide in 2010 (Graph 1). This sector includes senior citizen centers, adult foster care, Alzheimer's care facilities, senior volunteer programs, government senior and disability services agencies, and meal sites. Child day care services account for the second largest segment of social assistance with average employment of 9,591, 20.1 percent of the industry's employment. This sector includes private and publicly funded daycare and preschool facilities, after school programs, and resource and referral services.

Other individual and family services make up another 20 percent of social assistance industry employment with 9,364 jobs. Businesses in this sector include marriage and family counselors, mental health and addiction services providers, sexual assault and abuse crisis services, support groups, and more.

Vocational rehabilitation services includes organizations specializing in career counseling, developmental and cognitive disability services, apprenticeship and employment training programs, and occupational therapy. This group makes up about 14 percent of social assistance workers with 6,536 jobs.

Child and youth services (3,509 jobs) round out the top five sectors in the social assistance industry with 7.3 percent of the industry's employment. Although community food and housing services and emergency and other relief services do not have high concentrations of employment (2,171 jobs combined), the services they provide to Oregon residents are essential, especially during desperate times.

Private sector social assistance industry employment grew by 29 percent, from an annual average of 23,088 in 2001 to 29,735 in 2010. During the same time period, all of Oregon's private industries combined lost nearly 2 percent of their total employment.

The child care industry employs three of the five most common jobs in social assistance in Oregon (Table 1). Preschool teachers, social and human service assistants, teacher assistants, child care workers, and personal and home care aides are the most common jobs, followed by child, family, and school social workers and janitors and cleaners.

Most workers in this industry didn't choose their positions because of the big paycheck. They do it because they want to help others. The 2010 average annual wage for Oregon's social assistance industry was $22,179, well below the state's average across all industries of $41,669. Only one of the top 10 social assistance occupations, social and community service manager, had a median wage higher ($56,701) than the state's average wage.

Thinking about working in the social assistance industry? Working as a team member, basic computer skills, and applying active listening techniques are among the skills most commonly requested by social assistance industry employers in the WorkSource Oregon Employment Department's iMatchSkills job matching system in the past year. See the list of the top 20 most commonly requested skills below for additional insights into what Oregon's social assistance industry businesses are looking for in their applicants.

Top 20 Most Requested Skills by Social Assistance Industry Businesses

• work as a team member
  
• use word processing software
  
• apply active listening techniques
  
• use email software
  
• use computers to enter, access, and retrieve data
  
• use spreadsheet software
  
• use correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling
  
• obtain information from clients, customers, patients, or others
  
• process records and maintain forms and files
  
• prepare reports in timely manner follow safety procedures
  
• recognize physical and emotional abuse
  
• communicate with children and adults
  
• apply health and sanitation standards
  
• provide customer service
  
• access social service resource providers
  
• apply teaching techniques
  
• use basic mathematics
  
• apply confidentiality procedures
  
• resolve conflicts

Source: WorkSource Oregon Employment Department iMatchSkills system, 2011

According to the U.S. Census Bureau's Quarterly Workforce Indicators program 2010 data, in every age category of Oregon's social assistance industry workforce the number of women outnumber men, and in some age categories by more than three times as much.

Most of the industry's workforce (90%) in Oregon is over the age of 25 and women make up just over 75 percent of the total workers. However, average monthly earnings for men in this industry are higher than women's earnings in nearly every age category. Average monthly earnings for women in 2010 ($1,947) were 75 percent of their male co-workers' wages ($2,613). The only age group of social assistance workers in which female workers earned higher average monthly earnings than males was the 22 to 24-year-olds, where the average monthly earnings of men were 96 percent of those for women.

The turnover rate for workers in this industry in 2010 was higher than many industries at 8.4 percent, most likely due to the stressful nature of the work and low wages. Only one industry, accommodation and food services, had average monthly earnings below the social assistance industry in 2010.

Though emergency and other relief services make up only 1.4 percent of employment in the social assistance industry, the services provided to those in need are critical - providing food, shelter, and other essential services during times of crisis. The demand for food assistance has grown substantially statewide. From July 2008 through June 2009, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP formerly known as Food Stamps) served an average of 537,866 Oregonians. So far, from July 2011 through February 2012, that number has escalated by 47 percent to over 790,000 people statewide. That's more than the population of Multnomah County, or over 20 percent of the state's total population.

According to the Oregon Food Bank's annual report for the fiscal year of 2010-2011, for the first time ever, distribution of emergency food boxes in Oregon and Southwest Washington topped 1 million as long-term unemployment forced more and more people to fall into poverty and seek emergency food. The Oregon Food Bank's distribution of food to pantries in Oregon and Clark County, Washington has grown from 58 million pounds in 2007-2008 to 81 million pounds of food in the 2010-2011 program year, a 40 percent jump, serving over 260,000 people in an average month.

The growth in food distribution however, does not directly correlate to more jobs within the sector as local food banks and pantries rely heavily on volunteers to assist with getting the food out to those in need. The number of volunteer hours has increased by 36 percent, from 1.59 million hours in 2006-2007 to 2.15 million hours in 2010-2011.

With federal extended unemployment benefits ending in early April 2012, thousands of Oregonians will have exhausted all unemployment benefits available to them and the demand for social assistance may increase as a result. The percentage of Oregon's population living below the poverty level grew from 13.6 percent in 2008 to 15.8 percent in 2010, with over 600,000 Oregonians in this income category.

According to the Oregon Employment Department's employment projections from 2010 to 2020, the social assistance industry in Oregon is projected to add about 8,000 new jobs, a growth rate of 26 percent. Until the job market strengthens and individuals can get back on their feet, needs for housing, food, energy, mental health, job search, and other assistance will likely continue. Luckily, the professionals in the social assistance industry are here to help.