Non-profit human services workers are critical to building and maintaining the human, social, and institutional strengths of communities. Yet, human services wages are systematically lower compared with other sectors and industries.

In fall and winter 2022-2023, researchers at the UW School of Social Work assembled and collaborated with a group of national and international scholars to investigate the extent of the inequity compared with other public and private sector jobs. The study included different methodologies and analytic approaches to investigating wage inequities, and reviewed factors that have suppressed wages in the non-profit human services sector over time, including race and gender discrimination, wage penalties for caring labor, and decisions made by federal and local policymakers.

The study and report were funded by the City of Seattle.

Want to learn about key local and historical policy developments related to Wage Equity in Washington state?    View this interactive timeline

For questions about the study, please contact wageequitystudy@uw.edu.