Greedy
CEOs are pitting elderly Americans against the workers who care for them.
By
It’s
a question we need to answer. As baby boomers grow older, the elderly
population — seniors who are 80 and older — will increase almost 200 percent by 2050.
Our
long-term care system isn’t ready. Studies show that older Americans prefer home care over institutionalization. But because
of low wages and poor working conditions, recruiting and retaining home health
aides and personal care assistants is very difficult.
In
the end, that means a lower quality of care and fewer home care workers for
grandma.
Maybe
the home care industry just can’t afford to pay workers more?
Hardly.
The industry has boomed over the past decade. According to the National Employment Law Project,
its revenue increased 48 percent, while CEO compensation ballooned by a
whopping 150 percent.
In
fact, home care today is a multi-billion dollar industry. Because of rising
demand and skyrocketing revenues, Forbes called home health care one of the hottest franchises in the market.
Sadly, home care workers haven’t shared in the industry’s prosperity. During the same period that revenue soared, average hourly wages for workers declined by 6 percent.
And
that’s not the worst of it. Because of a “companionship exemption”
to federal labor laws, more than 2 million home care workers today are excluded
from minimum wage and overtime pay protections.
Ninety
percent of them are women. More than half rely on public assistance to make
ends meet.
The
Department of Labor has tried to stop the industry from misusing the
companionship exemption to pay home care workers less. It passed a new rule
that was supposed to make these workers eligible for minimum wage and overtime
pay this January.
But
before the rule went into effect, several for-profit home care associations —
including the International Franchise Association — successfully sued the
Department of Labor to prevent the change.
The
industry is claiming that higher wages mean grandma won’t be able to get the
care she needs.
The
truth?
Studies show that higher wages
mean grandma will be
able to find and keep the best caregiver. And the 15 states that already
provide minimum wage and overtime pay for home care workers prove that it’s
feasible.
All
told, Grandma will be more likely to get the care she needs when her caregivers
can earn a living wage.
Marjorie Wood is a senior
staff member of the Global Economy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies
and the editor of inequality.org. Distributed by OtherWords.org.