New Data on Caregiving Workforce

Posted on September 15, 2021 by Jenna Kellerman

PHI has released a new annual report on the caregiving workforce. This report focuses on how job quality in our sector has prevented an effective response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The report highlights that caregivers often struggle with poverty and a reliance on public assistance programs to make ends meet due to low wages. On top of that, caregivers also face heavy workloads. Caregivers support, on average, 13 residents per shift and have a heightened risk of workplace injury compared to other jobs – in addition to the risks imposed by COVID-19 over the last year. That reality, on top of low wages, makes it nearly impossible to recruit and retain caregivers.

This falls over the backdrop of the ever-present demographic shift. PHI reports that the direct care workforce will add an estimated 1.3 million new jobs between 2019 – 2029. When open positions are added to the mix, that number skyrockets to 7.4 million jobs in the same timeframe.

The lack of staffing leads to a reliance upon temporary staffing and understaffing, which significantly impacts both job quality and care quality.

Download the full report here. If you’d like to get involved in the conversation about improving pay and job quality, reach out to Jenna Kellerman, LeadingAge Minnesota’s Director of Workforce Solutions.