The direct care workforce has never been more important, and these practitioners continue to be in great demand. Yet a new report suggests that low wages, poor benefits, and other issues continue to hurt recruitment and retention. Among the findings:
- From 2020 to 2021 the home care workforce grew while the residential care and nursing assistant workforces decreased.
- While the direct care workforce has seen incremental wage growth in the past decade, the median wage was just $14.27 in 2021. The median annual earnings for direct care workers were well under $30,000.
- Nearly half (43%) of direct care workers rely on public assistance, such as Medicaid, food and nutrition assistance, or cash assistance.
- During the pandemic, 62% of nursing homes relied on nursing assistants from staffing agencies to fill staffing vacancies for a median of 166 days during the year.
