During the year 2008, the US had over 3 million workers employed in the field of live in care jobs. The type of employment was in a wide range of settings including institutional settings like hospitals and nursing homes or individual setting such as the clients home, large facilities where intellectual and developmental disabilities had to be looked after; community based residential settings and other sorts of day programs that were non-residential. The same research shows that majority of private live in care workers are employed in residential and community based settings and very few are working in nursing homes and hospitals. Furthermore, even though the business of live in care agency is growing, many workers prefer to go to consumers directly rather than through agencies.
In 2009, research showed that the hourly wage of all live in care workers was significantly less than the minimum wage limit for overall workers in the country. Over the past ten years or so, nursing aides have seen a gradual increase in their wages but home health aides have seen a decline. Furthermore, nearly 50% of all live-in care workers are employed part time. Consequently, part time work reduces overall earnings and this was not a good sign for these workers. Furthermore, it was also found that many live in care workers were not medically insured. One fourth of all nursing home aides and one third of all agency based workers lacked health coverage. However, almost 50% percent of these workers are liable to public benefits such as food stamps, housing, medical aid, childcare and energy assistance. Therefore, this was something the workers had to look forward to.
Another positive opportunity for the live-in care workforce is that the demand for workers is rapidly growing and is categorized as one of the fastest growing occupations between 2008 and 2018. Furthermore, the types of live in care jobs available in the field are predicted to produce several new jobs across the entire economy. According to the above mentioned figure of 3 million people being employed in this field in 2008, by 2018, another 1.1 million new positions will be called for. With a figure of 4.3 million in 2018, historic proportions would have been reached with private live in care workers in the field of teaching, law enforcement, fast food workers, registered nurses, public safety workers, and all child care workers.
In 2009, research showed that the hourly wage of all live in care workers was significantly less than the minimum wage limit for overall workers in the country. Over the past ten years or so, nursing aides have seen a gradual increase in their wages but home health aides have seen a decline. Furthermore, nearly 50% of all live-in care workers are employed part time. Consequently, part time work reduces overall earnings and this was not a good sign for these workers. Furthermore, it was also found that many live in care workers were not medically insured. One fourth of all nursing home aides and one third of all agency based workers lacked health coverage. However, almost 50% percent of these workers are liable to public benefits such as food stamps, housing, medical aid, childcare and energy assistance. Therefore, this was something the workers had to look forward to.
Another positive opportunity for the live-in care workforce is that the demand for workers is rapidly growing and is categorized as one of the fastest growing occupations between 2008 and 2018. Furthermore, the types of live in care jobs available in the field are predicted to produce several new jobs across the entire economy. According to the above mentioned figure of 3 million people being employed in this field in 2008, by 2018, another 1.1 million new positions will be called for. With a figure of 4.3 million in 2018, historic proportions would have been reached with private live in care workers in the field of teaching, law enforcement, fast food workers, registered nurses, public safety workers, and all child care workers.