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The differences between family workers and family therapists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a family worker and a family therapist. Additionally, a family therapist has an average salary of $50,774, which is higher than the $36,992 average annual salary of a family worker.
The top three skills for a family worker include social work, foster care and child care. The most important skills for a family therapist are social work, patients, and rehabilitation.
| Family Worker | Family Therapist | |
| Yearly salary | $36,992 | $50,774 |
| Hourly rate | $17.78 | $24.41 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 14% |
| Number of jobs | 101,552 | 106,982 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 47% |
| Average age | 42 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A family worker's role is to provide an intervention with parents, children, and young persons to help improve outcomes for families and children. The job they do includes working with parents to help strengthen family relationships and their ability to provide support and be community involved closely. They implement a program that helps parents recognize a child's needs, encouraging child self-esteem development, and positive behavior. Moreover, other duties include giving referrals to other community services as required and to assess family progress.
A Family Therapist works with couples and families to help ameliorate marital and family issues. They can work in hospitals, treatment programs, government agencies, health organizations, and private practices.
Family workers and family therapists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Family Worker | Family Therapist | |
| Average salary | $36,992 | $50,774 |
| Salary range | Between $28,000 And $48,000 | Between $37,000 And $67,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Rochester, NY |
| Highest paying state | - | Oregon |
| Best paying company | - | Dignity Health |
| Best paying industry | - | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a family worker and a family therapist in terms of educational background:
| Family Worker | Family Therapist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 47% |
| Most common major | Psychology | Psychology |
| Most common college | Hunter College of the City University of New York | California State University - Long Beach |
Here are the differences between family workers' and family therapists' demographics:
| Family Worker | Family Therapist | |
| Average age | 42 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 15.1% Female, 84.9% | Male, 25.8% Female, 74.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 13.4% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 15.1% Asian, 2.7% White, 63.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.5% | Black or African American, 7.0% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 13.9% Asian, 4.6% White, 68.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 6% |