Los Angeles County Raises Wages for IHSS Workers
Los Angeles County policymakers voted on June 16 to raise the wages of county residents who provide home care through California’s In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program.
The county board of supervisors voted 4-1 to boost IHSS workers’ wages from $9.65/hour to $11/hour by February 2016. In February 2017, their hourly wage will go up again, to $11.18.
“We simply cannot delay our push to help bring home care providers out of poverty,” county supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas told the Los Angeles Times on June 10, shortly after he and fellow supervisor Hilda Solis proposed the wage hike for IHSS workers. (Solis is a former U.S. Labor Secretary.)
Approximately 140,000 IHSS workers — many of whom provide long-term home care for family members — will be affected by the wage raise, the Times reported on June 16.
In the days leading up to the vote, hundreds of IHSS workers have spoken at county board meetings, emphasizing the need for a pay raise to $15/hour, the Los Angeles Daily News reported on June 16.
On June 14, Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti signed a bill raising the minimum wage for the city of Los Angeles from $9/hour to $15/hour by 2020. Since IHSS workers are considered to be state workers, however, that raise does not apply to them.
— by Matthew Ozga
