PHI has released a fact sheet on Michigan’s direct-care workforce (pdf). The eight-page document reveals that while demand for workers is at a historic high and growing, the labor pool is shrinking and poor job quality is adding to the difficulty of attracting and keeping new workers.

These factors, warns the fact sheet, are leading to a potential workforce crisis for the long-term care industry and the families who rely on long-term care services and supports.

Some key facts from the report:

• Roughly a quarter of the state‘s direct-care workers do not have any health insurance.
• A third of Michigan’s direct-care workers live in households that rely on some kind of public benefits, such as Medicaid or food stamps.
• In 2007, the average Michigan direct-care worker received an annual income of $16,446.

“The problem for Michigan,” says PHI Midwest Director Hollis Turnham,
“is that the low wages earned by most direct-care workers put these jobs at income levels that do not support a family.

“Greater investment in direct-care jobs would make them more attractive to workers from shrinking industries like manufacturing, helping to keep Michigan residents employed here — rather than moving out of state.”

The document concludes with five policy recommendations for improving Michigan’s direct-care jobs including increasing wages, improving training, and improving access to health benefits.