今天我们的节目要关注一个熟悉的陌生概念.什么叫社工?一听起来,您可能觉得会很熟悉,因为我们在影视剧里经常看到社工的形象,比如在医院当中帮助人度过心理困境的人,美国总统奥巴马的第一份工作就是社工,那么社工到底离我们有多远呢?

As part of a government plan, 2 million qualified social workers will be employed on the mainland by the end of 2015. According to statistics published by the Ministry of Civil Affairs, there are about 200 thousand social workers in China at the moment, and 25 year old Li Luling is one of them.

Since graduating from university, Li Luling has been working as a social worker for the past three years, though her first job in the field wasn't quite as rosy as she had hoped for.

"Three colleagues left during the first two months when I was a community worker back then. We all felt lost, and felt that our work was worth nothing. I left three months later."

Li is now working for a social work group in Beijing's Xicheng District. Her daily responsibilities include providing assistance at a house for senior citizens. Despite earning more than the paltry 1300 yuan that she received every month from her previous job, Li's current wage is still too low.

"I'm now paid 26 hundred yuan a month. Rent costs me 16 hundred."

At the moment, about 10,000 students majoring in social care graduate from around 250 higher educational institutions across China every year. In 2006, nearly 60 percent of this group chose to work in other occupations.
 
There is a great demand for social workers. However, in addition to long working hours and low pay, social workers are not recognized or appreciated by society in general, which is the main reason why so many choose to leave the profession.

Fortunately, the Chinese government has realized the importance of social workers and has devised a plan to adopt payment guidelines and other policies with the intention of making the profession more desirable. The Beijing government has hired one thousand social workers this year. Zhao Pengqi is the deputy director of China's Social Work Association.

"After adopting a series of policies, the Beijing municipal government has hired a large number of graduates to work within communities and social work organizations. It's a good start, but they still need more."

The time has now come to applaud this group of selfless individuals, and provide for them a better working structure and atmosphere in which they will feel valued and respected.