Cheating Dignity: The Direct-Care Wage Crisis in America is a new report from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). AFSCME commissioned the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute to write the report, which compares the wages of caregivers to the wages of other workers providing services, such as car repair, dog training, and aerobics instruction. Each of these occupations pays considerably more, on average, than the $7.97 per hour earned by direct-care workers.

These low wages are exacerbated by the often part-time nature of direct-care work. Thus, 18 percent of nursing home and home care workers-nearly one of every five-live below the federal poverty level. Moreover, these workers are more than twice as likely as other American workers to have no health insurance.

As Cheating Dignity points out, the poor wages and working conditions for direct-care workers have created a labor crisis that is the worst the industry has ever experienced.

But who is responsible for these poor wages? AFSCME argues, we all are. As taxpayers, we pay more than 60 percent of the cost of long-term care through Medicaid and Medicare-thus, we must demand that our tax dollars are used to improve the wages of caregivers who provide critical assistance to members of our community who are elderly, chronically ill, or living with disabilities. Our loved ones deserve quality care provided by compassionate caregivers who can choose this work because it pays sufficient wages to escape the traumas of constant poverty.

To view comments by PHI’s President, Steven L. Dawson, presented at the AFSCME press conference announcing the report, go to: www.directcareclearinghouse.org.

To download a copy of Cheating Dignity, go to: http://www.afscme.org/pol-leg/cdtc.htm.