Regional Guidance on the Development and Use of Social Service Workforce to Population Ratios in ASEAN

An adequately planned, developed, and supported social service workforce (SSW) is critical to enable equitable access to social protection and basic social welfare for all, in both development and humanitarian contexts. Social work is the core profession within the social service workforce, but professional social workers usually work alongside para professionals and other members of the wider workforce providing care and support services. 

An important step in planning the required workforce, in particular the number that needs to be deployed to meet identified social welfare needs, is to establish a minimum worker to population ratio. A sufficient ratio is a prerequisite for the provision of services of sufficient scope and quality to protect clients’ rights, promote their well-being and help them achieve their full potential. The ratio might cover just qualified social workers, or social service workers in general. This ratio can then inform the necessary allocation of resources sufficient to build, develop and support the workforce at that level.