We are proud to announce the launch of the CREATIVE CARE COUNCIL! LEARN MORE
We are proud to announce the launch of the CREATIVE CARE COUNCIL! LEARN MORE
Next week, on Monday, October 7, Caring Across Generations will be bringing together home care workers from all around the country and from all sectors of the industry at the first-ever Home Care Workers Rising Summit.
In a historic first, hundreds of workers from unions as well as private sector workers and care consumers will be gathering in St. Louis, MO to help define the future of care, together.
The timing for this gathering could not be more urgent: more than 10,000 Baby Boomers turn 65 every day, and 90 percent of all Americans want to stay at home as they age. The demand for home care is huge and growing, and this workforce is expected to double by 2020.
These workers do the hard but vital work of making it possible for our aging loved ones and family members with disabilities to live independently at home and in their communities.
Yet home care is the lowest-paid fastest growing workforce in our country. The vast majority of home care workers are paid poverty wages, earning a median hourly wave of $9.38 for an annual income of just over $17,000. Wages are so low that half of all home care workers qualify for public assistance.
As a nation, we understand that we need to value home care workers — and that when we do, we’re also reaffirming the value of those they care for. Together in St. Louis, we’ll be defining what a 21st-century economy rooted in the value of caregiving can and should look like.
Take action:
Tell Missouri Governor Jay Nixon to raise wages for MO home care workers
Read more:
Meet the Home Care Workers Rising award winners!
An editorial by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “Raise wages for Missouri’s home health care providers”
Our co-director Ai-jen Poo’s op-ed in the Guardian, “America’s most invisible workforce is the one we need the most”
Ai-jen Poo interviewed in Latin Post: An Invisible Workforce: Home Care Workers Are Highly Valued but Overworked and Underpaid
Action coverage:
St. Louis Post Dispatch: Home health care workers rally in St. Louis for higher minimum wage
The Missouri Times: Home care workers descend on Wainwright building for higher wage
Follow along:
Follow @HomeCareRising on Twitter for event updates.
Also follow the convening organizations: Caring Across Generations, SEIU, National Domestic Workers Alliance, Jobs with Justice, AFSCME, and Hand in Hand.