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The differences between family workers and service counselors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a family worker, becoming a service counselor takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a family worker has an average salary of $36,992, which is higher than the $35,402 average annual salary of a service counselor.
The top three skills for a family worker include social work, foster care and child care. The most important skills for a service counselor are social work, crisis intervention, and patients.
| Family Worker | Service Counselor | |
| Yearly salary | $36,992 | $35,402 |
| Hourly rate | $17.78 | $17.02 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 12% |
| Number of jobs | 101,552 | 44,284 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 59% |
| Average age | 42 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 12 |
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.
Service counselors provide guidance to couples, individuals, groups, and families who are going through issues that influence their well-being and mental health. They comprehensively approach their clients by utilizing a "wellness" model that focuses on and motivate the client's potentials. Their duties include inspiring clients to talk about their emotions and experiences, helping them determine their action plans and goals, as well as designing therapeutic methods. Also, they may refer their clients to other services or psychologists.
Family workers and service counselors have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Family Worker | Service Counselor | |
| Average salary | $36,992 | $35,402 |
| Salary range | Between $28,000 And $48,000 | Between $24,000 And $51,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Urban Honolulu, HI |
| Highest paying state | - | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | - | |
| Best paying industry | - | Education |
There are a few differences between a family worker and a service counselor in terms of educational background:
| Family Worker | Service Counselor | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 59% |
| Most common major | Psychology | Psychology |
| Most common college | Hunter College of the City University of New York | SUNY at Binghamton |
Here are the differences between family workers' and service counselors' demographics:
| Family Worker | Service Counselor | |
| Average age | 42 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 15.1% Female, 84.9% | Male, 33.3% Female, 66.7% |
| 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, 12.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 19.7% Asian, 7.1% White, 54.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.6% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 11% |