Should I major in Psychology or Social Work?

[mandyhouts]

I am a senior in high school and I have been accepted to a four year university for the fall. I am trying to decide if I should major in psychology or social work. I plan on minoring in child development. I want to help children cope with abusive situations, help them find a safe foster home, counsel them, etc. I love children, and I want to have my job be with them. My question though is what should I declare my major as? I am in AP psych right now and I LOVE it and I am getting an A. I however do not want to go and get my masters right away. I want to work for a little bit, settle down a bit and then perhaps go and get my masters. What degree would have more job opportunities with what I am looking to do?
Thanks!

[Justin Foundout]

Last year one of the top news magazines listed a psychology degree as one of the least desirable for employment outlook. This may be a factor due to healthcare plan changes in the free market and possibly obamacare related as rationing care, if that happens, will put priority of spending healthcare dollars on physical ailments over mental ailments.This also relates to regular healthcare plans that people get through their work. They will have to cut allowances for mental health so that they can afford to compete on the physical care side.

Another factor is that general practitioner doctors that have staff and light medical equipment in-house, they get as little as 65.00 for a patient revisit. The first visit for the diagnosis of the problem pays more, but follow-ups, which make up most of their business, is under 100.00 an the patient co-pays 25.00 customarily. An insurance covered therapist can get as little as 65.00 per visit as well, but they usually don't have any staff (overhead costs) unless it is a governmental facility. the difference is that therapists see you for an hour and a doctor might see you for 12 minutes. So the doctor brings in 325.00 per hour all day long. Many general practitioners turn away new patients so there is a shortage of these type doctors.

Meanwhile, a therapist usually starts at 10 am and offers evening hours, but is only open 4 days a week usually, and for the 65.00, they see patients for one full hour. this industry has a lot of appointment cancellations so a therapist, in a 9 hour day, bring in $585.00 per day if no cancellations are made. They usually have a small house in a business district OR you have to bring patients into your own home, a good many do. So they know where you live - which many therapists hide their true address. So your overhead costs can be substantial and you have to pay taxes on the income. Many therapists share the building with another therapist to share overhead costs...and it is forecasted to get worse for the industry.

There fast track ways to get where you want to be as far as a therapist. If it is your dream, don;t let this dissuade you. But realize that you may have a lot invested and not such a big payoff. One other thing working against you is the abundance of baby-boomers that are grandfathered in therapists that did not have your educational costs or have them paid off and they have an established business and these baby boomers use being a therapist as a partial or early retirement plan. A good many left their day jobs and got certified after having a psych degree and also had a life savings to start a business with. There are tons of these baby-boomer therapists out there as well as foreign student programs that have educated those from other countries with the intent for them to go back and help people in their native country - but many stay because they can earn more here and just like living here. I am only saying that semi-retired baby boomers and foreign students, some with PhDs will be your competition. So for these reasons, it is not considered a lucrative degree and actually was near the bottom of the list.

A Masters degree would be highly-inadvisable as it only raises your costs. If on your way to a PhD, be advised that many PhD psychologists make around 80K-90K in a world where truckers can make 65K. You will likely have to take a job working for the government as a psychologists in come capacity (court ordered alcohol and drug rehab, marriage counseling, divorce counseling, inmate counseling, juvenile counseling, school counselor). These jobs do not pay well at all in comparison to virtually any other degree starting salary.

Patient care/health insurance related jobs can be surprisingly low-paying in certain areas - they cut where they can. State government employees (not Federal as badly), but state government jobs can pay very low, especially in certain states like New Mexico which is considered an impoverished state and government services are spread thin (large state, low population). You may find that a receptionist with no degree might be paid as much as you are because they are congenial and can run a certain scheduling software. Or the medical coding/billing individuals might be making 40K with no degree as you start your career at 28-32K with a degree and counselor's license.