ABSTRACT
Information emerging on the marital status of clients in a national sample of cases carried by social workers in local authority health and welfare departments show similar trends. The social work patients' marital state and household composition were likewise not at all representative of the Borough. This match in social class between the social work clients and the neighbourhood may indicate that when a social worker functions in a setting which brings her into contact with a cross-section of the population a similar proportion in all social groups are found to need her help. This suggestion finds confirmation in the Barnstaple project where the social class composition of the social work patients was also very similar to that of the local population. Of the social work patients, 10 per cent were found to live in housing conditions which were inimical to their health, but in general their housing was reasonably satisfactory and reflected the active housing programme of the Borough.
