Higher wages, more hours, and travel-cost reimbursement are the strongest predictors of turnover among Maine home care workers, according to a study published in the October 2009 issue of The Gerontologist.

The study — conducted by Lisa Morris of the Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Southern Maine — is one of the only state-wide investigations of home care workers to investigate job quality and turnover. Over 600 Maine home care workers were surveyed in 2005 and again in 2007.

The study finds that compensation variables are more important than other job characteristics and personal factors in determining turnover. For example, the study shows that:

• a 20% wage increase can be expected to reduce turnover by 28%;
• reimbursing workers for travel costs has a similar effect on turnover as nearly a $4 increase in hourly wages;
• and ensuring full-time hours reduces turnover by 21%.

The results also suggest that home care workers may prefer more hours and higher wages to health benefits.

Morris concludes that policy efforts are needed “to improve home care employers’ ability to pay higher wages and provide wage subsidies.”

PHI’s recently released State Facts sheet on Maine’s direct-care workforce adds to the case for improving the competitiveness of home care jobs in Maine. PHI reports that Maine’s direct-care workers — including home care workers and nursing aides — are larger than almost any other occupational grouping in the state, including RNs and teachers. Additionally, direct-care work ranks among the top five occupations expected to generate the greatest demand for new positions over the next decade.

However, one-third of direct-care workers in Maine and in neighboring New England states have near-poverty incomes; and roughly 40% rely on some form of public assistance, such as Medicaid or food stamps, PHI’s report found.