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
By Caring Across Staff
Last Monday, hundreds gathered at the White House Conference on Aging to address how we support aging Americans in the coming decade.
The conference drew attention to the changing face of America, and made it clear that we need new supports for our growing senior population.
Our co-director, Ai-jen Poo, spoke at the conference on the urgent need to support what she called our nation’s Careforce — the 50 million paid caregivers and unpaid family caregivers who are providing critical support for seniors and people with disabilities. The next day, she had this to say: “It could sound like a broken record to say that there’s no better time than now to take stock of what we need to do to meet the needs of our elders and 21st-century families. But judging from yesterday, we need to play it louder.”
While many important issues were raised, many of those who followed the WHCOA livestream at our six watch parties around the country felt more needed to be done to raise the bold new solutions our families need.
Here’s what a few of them had to say:
Jamie Opsal, a senior from St. Louis, MO, was at the watch party held by our partner Missouri Jobs with Justice. “I would have like to seen more discussion on how to make long term-care more affordable,” she said. “Funding for these programs are normally the issue in the state or the county where they will be implemented.”
Mary Woods, a home care consumer who supports a $15 minimum wage for home care workers, was also at that watch party with Jamie. “I was excited to hear comments by home care workers in the audience,” she told us, “but disappointed by the lack of paid caregivers in panel discussions.”
Bob Robbins, a senior member of our partner TakeAction Minnesota, shared a similar concern. He had this reflection after watching the WHCOA: “While there was some advice on saving for retirement (if you can afford to), there was no mention at all of caring for existing retirees that do not have either a nest egg or sufficient Social Security credits to live on.” He was also disappointed that no one addressed Social Security expansion or ways that we need to strengthen and expand Medicare and Medicaid.
The White House Conference on Aging elevated a necessary conversation around the gaps in our long-term care system — but we need more than talk: we need action.
Every day, 10,000 Americans turn 65, and already, tens of millions of us are struggling to access the support we and our loved ones need to live and age with dignity and independence.
It is time we focus on quality, affordable care and the good jobs we need to support the growing demand for care. As Ai-jen wrote, “[M]any families cannot afford to hire home care workers and their family caregivers are stretched too thin.” Supporting our nation’s paid caregivers goes hand-in-hand with supporting unpaid family caregivers. A wage increase for professional caregivers, and subsidies for the families who need the assistance of a home care worker, will require “a significant federal investment to support the more than one million new [home care] jobs needed over the next decade.”
Elizabeth Lienesch, also of TakeAction Minnesota, said it best after their watch party:
“Our biggest takeaway? There’s a lot more work to do.”
Photo Credits: Atlanta Jobs with Justice, TakeAction Minnesota, and Vermont Workers’ Center