Home care workers represent one of the fastest-growing occupations, but their pay is stuck at $10.11 per hour, reports The New York Times.
That's based on the most recent findings on home care workers from analysts at Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute, a nonprofit research and consulting group.
Here are seven things to know about home care workers, as stated by PHI.
1. There are more than 2 million home care workers across the U.S., including personal care aides, home health aides and nursing assistants. These workersprovide personal assistance and healthcare support to older adults and people with disabilities in home and community-based settings.
2. About 9 in 10 home care workers are women, while people of color comprise more than half of the home care workforce.
3. The home care workforce has doubled in size over the past decade, from 700,000 in 2005 to more than 1.4 million in 2015. PHI attributes this growth to the fact that delivery of long-term services and supports has increasingly shifted from institutional settings, such as nursing homes, to private homes and communities.
4. In coming years, the rapidly growing population of older adults will drive demand for home care workers even higher. By 2050, the population of people over the age of 65 will nearly double, from 47.8 million to 88 million, according to PHI.
5. The median hourly wage for home care aides decreased from $10.21 in 2005 to $10.11 in 2015. With work that is often part time or part year, home care workers earn on average $13,300 annually.
6. Due to low incomes, 24 percent of home care workers live in households below the federal poverty line.
7. Following implementation of the Affordable Care Act, the rate of health coverage for home care workers increased by 14 percent (from 2010 to 2014).
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