Hur ser personaltillgången ut inom socialtjänstens olikadelar? Vad har hänt under de senaste åren? Hur kan demycket stora skillnaderna i personalbemanning mellanolika kommuner förklaras? I den här artikeln diskuterassådana frågor med hjälp av data från en undersökning avförhållandena i 100 svenska kommuner
There are serious lacunae in our knowledge of staffing levels in the social services individual and family care and the factors that determine these levels. This article presents the results of a study of staffing conditions, conducted as part of the IFO Project, where those responsible for individual and family care in 100 medium-sized Swedish municipalities were interviewed. It was found that there are very large differences in staffing in different municipalities« individual and family care. The municipality with the greatest staff density has four times as many social workers as the municipality with the lowest staff density. As regards changed in the size of staff, it seems that the most expansive field in recent years has been child welfare, while changes in the care of addicts and income support are small. These shifts are understandable against the background of development in the different fields in recent years. The municipal differences in staffing are analysed with the aid of multivariate statistical models to test the significance of demographic, socio-economic, and organizational factors. It turns out that the differences can be partly explained by socioeconomic differences and the way chosen to organize the work, but a great deal of the variation cannot be explained with the aid of the statistical models. The results are discussed in terms of organization and prioritization theory.