Even though they are essential workers,
#paid #care #jobs are
not “good jobs” – that is:
they generally pay low wages and don’t have benefits such as access to healthcare, paid sick days, paid leave, union protections or retirement benefits.
At the same time, family pocketbooks are increasingly squeezed by care priced like it’s a luxury and not a necessity.
This leaves both families and workers struggling to make ends meet,
while businesses often operate on small margins.
The three care industries
– nursing and residential care facilities,
child care,
and home health care
– have not experienced the same level of job growth as the rest of the economy in the COVID-19 recovery.
While the growth in home health care jobs compared to the pre-pandemic baseline surpassed total nonfarm job growth in 2023,
both child care jobs and nursing and residential care jobs are lagging behind.
Meanwhile the need for care remains immense;
almost 700,000 people were on Medicaid Home- and Community-Based Services waiting lists last year,
more than 20 percent of states have waiting lists for child care assistance
and home health and personal care aides are projected to account for more than 1 out of 6 new jobs created in the next decade.
In order to keep up with the demand for paid care workers, these jobs must increase their pay to reflect the true value of the work they’re providing and compete with other professions for workers
– and they must do so without increasing the burden for families.
https://nationalpartnership.org/caregiving-costs-outpace-inflation-caregivers-still-lack-living-wage/