According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the demand for in home care providers will double by the year 2020. This increase in
Caring for In-Home Care Aides
demand is the product of an aging population, more people living much longer, and the changes to the healthcare industry that is aimed at moving patients away from long hospital stays to home care.
Currently, there are an estimated 2 million home health care workers, or home care aides, who are caring for elderly and infirm individuals across the country.
The profession is expected to become “the No. 1 growing occupation in the next 10 years (CNN).”
An effort has begun to help provide more support to these caregivers, with the Obama administration extending the Fair Labor Standards Act to cover home care aides and other workers. This is intended to provide these workers with the same overtime protection that other workers have received for decades, but which weren’t applied to this labor force.
The majority of the in home care providers are women and through the years, the work that they do and the care that they provide has largely been marginalized. The reasons for this marginalization may have more to do with the inherent misunderstanding about the type of care that they provide, and the level of experience and knowledge that some believe is needed to perform this work.
Caregivers are unique to the American workforce as they are individuals who support themselves by providing support to those in need. According to advocates for in home care providers, raising wages and offering more benefits, and more support, will be one way to help lift many of these providers out of poverty. It would also allow family members who are juggling raising a family and caring for elderly loved ones an opportunity to grow professionally themselves.
There are others who believe that raising wages for this level of workers would force agencies and other businesses to cut back on their workforce, effectively leaving numerous elderly and other individuals in need without the caregivers that they may require.
Care providers are an invaluable part of the healthcare industry and for many years their contributions have been downplayed. However, as more seniors age, and as people live longer than ever, it’s going to become more important to take care of the in home care workers who provide the support that elderly Americans require. Determining the best way to support them, and to give them more opportunities in the future, is at the core of today’s debate over wages, benefits, and more.
MARCH 19, 2014 BY
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