Having worked last summer in the homecare department in Inverness I got a good idea of what it would be like to work permanently in social work. A nightmare. Although I'm only speaking for Scottish social work I would imagine that it is like this in most places. The fundamental problem is that although the staff want to do the best for the clients that they deal with, often the main obstacle is money. There were many things that needed doing, but couldn't because our budget was not big enough, which meant that our work was substandard and so the clients suffered. Added to which there were staffing problems, so being able to carry out all the care that was required was extremely difficult at times, and sometimes had to be cut, albeit on a temporary basis. I was also thankful that I wasn't one of the people needing the care. What I'm trying to say is that you'll find the same sorts of problems in social work, namely a lack of money. But good luck if you do decide that that's what you want to do.