Direct Care Workers in the United States: Key Facts provides a new annual snapshot on the direct care workforce, including its demographics, occupational roles, job quality challenges, and projected job openings. The report includes detailed overviews of three segments of this workforce: home care workers, residential care aides, and nursing assistants in nursing homes.
Key Takeaways
Our new report shows that direct care workers nationwide continued to struggle in poverty-level jobs across all long-term care settings.
There are 4.6 million direct care workers in the U.S., including 2.4 million home care workers, 675,000 residential care aides, 527,000 nursing assistants in nursing homes, and about 1 million direct care workers employed in other settings.
The direct care workforce expanded rapidly over the last decade, growing from 3.1 million workers in 2010 to 4.6 million in 2020.
