![]() ![]() “We need the work, and think paying us little money is better than no money. “I pray every day for change,” said Deborah Brockington, a 57-year-old home health aide in Raleigh, North Carolina. In interviews, several home health aides described their work as emotionally and physically draining, with few rewarding moments. It’s no wonder the caregiving profession has one of the highest turnover rates in the country. One of the fastest-growing jobs in the US is a really lousy one. They have no right to a safe workplace, and in some cases, they have no collective bargaining rights. None are protected from racial discrimination or sexual harassment. Neither are caregivers who spend less than 20 percent of their job helping clients do basic tasks. Live-in caregivers are not entitled to overtime pay or a minimum wage under federal law, or any other labor protections. Because of the job’s roots in slave labor, these workers have long been excluded from US labor laws. But these positions, which require minimal training and no college degree, are among the lowest-paid in the country.īeyond that, home care workers are an easily exploitable workforce. The title doesn’t matter what’s important is that this is the future of work for millions of Americans.Īccording to the latest estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the US economy is expected to create about 1.2 million new positions for home caregivers like Angelica by 2026 - a 41 percent increase from the 2.9 million personal care and home health aides working in 2016.Īging baby boomers and expanded Medicaid coverage have led to the surge in the need for workers to care for the sick and elderly in their own homes. This is what it’s like to do one of the most in-demand jobs in the US, a job that has many names, depending on the state and tasks involved: Home caregiver. Angelica keeps track of each chore she completes to help her stay organized, and for other caregivers and relatives to reference. Disinfected stovetop and sink,” she scribbled. She carefully wrote down each task she completed. New Mexico is one of nine states that now offer basic labor protections to home caregivers. Angelica speaks with her client between her many tasks. Later, she would get cranky and yell at Angelica for not following her orders, like failing to get two visiting journalists to leave before lunchtime. Her client was in a good mood, but that wouldn’t last long. “Yes, please,” the woman answered, sitting down. “How’s your throat? Do you want me to make you a cup of tea?” Angelica asked cheerfully as she scrubbed a pot in the sink. Her last client masturbated in front of her (she quit), and the person before him soiled herself constantly, leaving Angelica to clean up (that client later died). Her current client is far less difficult than others she’s had. The refrigerator was nearly empty.Īngelica mostly likes her job, despite the low wages - even though she never gets a day off. Her client shook her head.Īngelica walked inside and opened the back door to let Sparky out. “Has Sparky gone out to pee?” Angelica asked, referring to the widow’s 7-year-old terrier. She was tall and slender with sharp blue eyes, still wearing her pajamas and bathrobe when Angelica arrived. Her client, who asked not to be identified for privacy reasons, stood waiting at the door to her garage, clutching a walker. Angelica waits to be let in at her client’s home. Then she pulled into the driveway of a house with a red-tiled roof. She drove past auto body shops, an elementary school, and a go-kart track.įifteen minutes later, Angelica turned right into a neighborhood of tidy beige houses with two-car garages - a world apart from the cramped rowhouse where she grew up in Philadelphia. The sun was still hiding behind the granite peaks, but the temperature was climbing to 90 degrees. On a recent morning, Angelica drove her 2002 Ford Taurus (it has “stage 4 cancer,” she joked) along the dry, dusty foothills of the Sandia mountain range. The $12.50 an hour Angelica earns isn’t enough, so she and her son rely on government assistance, such as food stamps and Medicaid. But when is it not? Life’s always a struggle if you’re a single mom.”Īngelica already works seven days a week as a home health aide, caring for an 89-year-old widow with dementia who lives alone. She recently interviewed for a position working the assembly line at a factory, making prepaid phone cards, but hasn’t heard back. “I really need to get a second job,” Angelica said. She pauses at her car as the sun breaks over the Sandia mountains. ![]()
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