PHI PolicyWorks has released an updated State Chart Book on Wages for Personal and Home Care Aides (pdf). The chart book tracks wages in all 50 states and the District of Columbia for the period 1999-2008. It shows that nationally, the median real wage (adjusted for inflation) for personal and home care aides has decreased by 3 percent over nine years, from $7.50 to $7.31.

“Wages for personal and home care aides are so low,” says PHI Director of Policy Research Dorie Seavey, “that about 20 percent of these workers received a raise on July 24 when the minimum wage increased to $7.25/hour.” Low wages, Seavey noted, make it more difficult for states to attract the workers needed to support growing numbers of elders and people with disabilities who want to live in their communities.

Other highlights gleaned from the data compiled in the State Chart Book on Wages include:

• In 2008, the nominal median wage ranged from $7.05 in Texas to $12.55 in Alaska, while the real median wage ranged from $5.61 to $9.90.
• Over the 9-year period, 21 states showed a decline in real median wages for PHCAs. Real wages fell by more than 5 percent in 12 states.
• In 2008, no state reported a PHCA wage above 250 percent of the Federal Poverty Line (FPL) wage for a single individual ($12.50/hour), a level that approximates an economically self-sufficient wage for a single individual but is likely insufficient for an adult with dependent children.
• In nearly two-thirds of states (32), average hourly wages for PHCAs were below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Line wage for individuals in one-person households working full time. Since at 200 percent of FPL, households often quality for state and federal assistance programs, in these states most PHCAs, particularly those with dependents, are earning near-poverty level wages.

“Personal and Home Care Aides are projected to be the second fastest growing occupation between 2006 and 2016. Increasing wages for these workers is essential for meeting this demand,” says PHI National Policy Director Steve Edelstein.

“Further, federal policy proposals to increase home and community based services cannot be realized without making these jobs more competitive. The state wage chartbook shows just how far we have to go.”