HOME CARE AIDES: Undervalued and Underpaid

Posted by on Jul 01, 2021 in Home Page, Editor Byline

The following report from the Economic Policy Institute clearly defines one of the major reasons President Biden’s American Jobs Plan needs to be passed in the Congress. Once again women bear the brunt of these inequities. It’s time – no it’s past time- for this to change.

Home care aides make up the majority of the nation’s 2.2 million domestic workers

Employment in domestic worker occupations, 2019

	House cleaners	Child care workers	Home care aides
*House cleaners*	343,527
*Child care workers*		502,244
*Home care aides*			1,399,278

Note: There were 2,245,047 workers in domestic occupations in 2019. To ensure sufficient sample sizes for the subcategories, this figure draws from pooled 2017–2019 microdata.

Source: Economic Policy Institute (EPI) analysis of Current Population Survey basic monthly microdata, EPI Current Population Survey Extracts, Version 1.0.2 (2020), https://microdata.epi.org

From Economic Policy Institute

President Biden’s American Jobs Plan isn’t just an investment in infrastructure such as roads and bridges. It’s also an investment in workers, especially those caring for our loved ones but too often live on the economic edge.

For too long, home care aides, who make up the majority of domestic workers, have been underpaid and undervalued. Domestic workers―91.5% of whom are women and 52% of whom are Black, Hispanic or Asian American/Pacific Islander women―earn, on average, just $12 an hour, compared to the average worker who earns closer to $20 an hour, according to EPI research.

And, domestic workers are three times as likely to be living in poverty as other workers.

Original post blogged on Women' Voices Media.

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