A series of PHI issue briefs describes the direct-care workforces in several states.

Specifically, the briefs focus on:

• Illinois (pdf)
• Pennsylvania (pdf)
• Michigan (pdf)
• Massachusetts (pdf)
• Iowa (pdf)
• Maine (pdf)
• and Vermont (pdf).

The fact sheets highlight the importance of the direct-care workforce. “In virtually all states around the country, direct-care workers constitute one of the largest occupational groups — outnumbering jobs for teachers and RNs, for example,” said PHI Director of Policy Research Dorie Seavey.

Indeed, the direct-care industry is positioned to grow significantly over the next several years, creating tens of thousands of new jobs in the six states highlighted. Illinois alone will add more than 42,000 direct-care positions by 2016, an increase of 40 percent.

But despite that growth, direct-care workers in all states face numerous challenges. In each of the states reviewed by PHI, direct-care jobs do not offer benefits or pay competitive wages. In Michigan, for example, the average direct-care worker earned just under $16,500 in 2007, roughly 160 percent of that year’s federal poverty level for a one-person household.

Consequently, Seavey said, direct-care workers must often “rely on public subsidies in order to meet the basic needs of their families.”

Another brief focuses on New York City’s home care workforce (pdf), while an upcoming installment will highlight the direct-care workforce in Connecticut.