Every day, nearly 4.5 million direct care workers support older adults and people with disabilities across the United States. Who are these workers? And how has their role changed over time?
It’s Time to Care: A Detailed Profile of America’s Direct Care Workforce provides a detailed overview of the direct care workforce (including key concepts and definitions), an analysis of how this role has evolved, and a statistical profile of the workforce with key demographics, socio-economic characteristics, and future employment projections.
To inform the dialogue on direct care jobs, PHI spoke with workers in different parts of the country to hear their stories and ideas.
"Many CNAs do not get paid enough…You have a lot of responsibility taking care of members…when you are not earning enough money to make ends meet, many people leave to find better pay."
Culix Wibonele
Care Partner at Park Springs (Stone Mountain, GA)
"It is very stressful being directly responsible for a person’s well-being. Keeping residents safe is a huge responsibility that families give us, and I take that very seriously."
Dessaline Watkins
Direct Support Professional at Misericordia (Chicago, IL)
"I love helping people. I used to work as a security guard and was looking for a new job. Now working as a home health aide, my job is about more than just getting a paycheck every week."
Ricardo Araujo
Home Health Aide, Cooperative Home Care Associates (Bronx, NY)
Key Takeaways
Every day, nearly 4.5 million direct care workers support older adults and people with disabilities across the U.S.
From 2018 to 2028, the long-term care sector will need to fill 8.2 million job openings in direct care.
Turnover among the direct care workforce has generally been reported at 40 to 60 percent or higher.
Kezia Scales leads PHI’s strategy for building the evidence base on state and national policies and workforce interventions that improve direct care jobs, elevate this essential workforce, and strengthen care processes and outcomes.
Caring for the Future
Our new policy report takes an extensive look at today's direct care workforce—in five installments.
