Primary Education Topic:
Aging in Community
Other Education Topics:
Caregiving
Health & Wellness
Healthcare & Aging
Leadership in Aging
Legal & Ethical Issues
Policy and Advocacy
Our new labor market requires stakeholders begin to compete for direct care workers through higher pay, benefits, predictable hours, training, and support.
By Steven L. Dawson
Here is the conundrum: While the demand for direct care workers—home health aides, nursing assistants, personal care workers—continues to surge, their real wages, adjusted for inflation over the past ten years, continue to fall (see Figure 1, below).
Figure 1: Direct Care Worker Wages