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3.6 million employed in private social assistance industries in 2016

February 26, 2018

In 2016, employment in private social assistance industries reached 3.6 million. Among those industries, 1.6 million jobs were in services for the elderly and disabled and 850,000 were in child day care services.
Employment in social assistance industries, 2016 annual average (thousands)
Industry Private Federal government State government Local government

Child and youth services

 191.0 0.7 26.0 17.5

Services for the elderly and disabled

 1630.8 0.2 20.1 30.6

Other individual and family services

 412.5 1.5 59.4 51.5

Community food services

 35.0 0.1 (1) 1.0

Temporary shelters

 67.9 0.1 (1) 0.4

Other community housing services

 35.2 (1) (1) 1.4

Emergency and other relief services

 25.2 (1) (1) 0.4

Vocational rehabilitation services

 331.7 1.8 14.1 6.8

Child day care services

 850.2 10.8 (1) 9.6
Footnotes:

 

(1) Data not available.

In 2016, state governments employed 105,500 workers in individual and family services, closely followed by local governments with 99,600 jobs in that industry. Local governments, however, had 30,600 jobs in services for the elderly and disabled, compared with 20,100 in state government.

These data are from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. For more data on establishments, employment, and wages, see the QCEW data retrieval tool. Individual and family services consists of the following industries: child and youth services, services for the elderly and disabled, and other individual and family services.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, 3.6 million employed in private social assistance industries in 2016 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2018/3-point-6-million-employed-in-private-social-assistance-industries-in-2016.htm (visited October 31, 2024).

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