MEET YOUR CAREGIVER

​On average, a 42 year-old, single mother of 2.3 children who in most cases receives state and federal social welfare benefits.

9 in 10 are women

1 in 4 is an immigrant totaling in more than 1 million.

53% experience high emotional stress.
 
87% report a decrease in health while Caregiving.

84% do not get medically consulted about their need.

Caregivers are more than three times likelier to experience injury on the job than the typical US worker.

87% of Caregivers feel their health in general has gotten worse as a result of Caregiving.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics and PHI

THE CRISIS CAREGIVERS ARE FACING

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The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that 2.8 million care workers will have left the direct care industry for other occupations by 2026. We want to highlight the reasons why. Direct care work is challenging and poorly compensated, workers are forced to leave the industry in order to provide for themselves and families.

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WORK ENVIRONMENT

​With high-intensity work environments and low, stagnant wages, it's hard to make caregiving a career choice. Many Caregivers leave the industry to work jobs with better pay and less-stressful work environments. The critical shortage of Caregivers means a constant overload of work and leaves patients with a lower-quality of care than they deserve.

FAMILY LIFE

The average Caregiver is a 43-year-old single mother with 2.3 children. Caregivers face the challenge of providing for their family while making well below the living wage. Very often forced to rely on social welfare to make ends meet, despite working day in and day out for our country's elderly, disabled, and most vulnerable populations.

PERSONAL HEALTH

Between working long hours caring for patients and taking care of their families, there is little time to attend to personal well-being. Caregivers are left emotionally and physically drained amidst work and family life. Still, they do it over and over each day to provide a better life for their families and patients.

THE CRITICAL SHORTAGE OF CAREGIVERS IS GROWING WORSE 

We will need to fill more than 1.4 million new direct care jobs over the next decade, but the traditional pool of
workers — women between age 25 and 64 — is expected to grow by only 1.9 million.

Half of these new workers are not going to choose physically and
emotionally challenging jobs that will leave their families living in poverty.

The direct care industry will see 7.8 Million job openings (existing and new) by 2026
3.6 million workers will retire from the labor force
2.8 million workers will leave the Caregiving industry for other occupations
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The Bureau of Labor Statistics and PHI (the nation’s leading authority on the direct-care workforce)

         THE CRITICAL SHORTAGE OF CAREGIVERS IS GROWING WORSE

IT'S AN UNSUSTAINABLE CAREER

Choosing a career as a Caregiver is a decision to either be in poverty or working poor. Most Caregivers face the inability to live and provide for their families without social welfare. Low pay, limited training, and few advancement opportunities make Caregiving an unattractive career for all but the most dedicated Caregivers.

​HOURLY WAGE COMPETITION

Caregiving: $14.00
Janitorial: $14.81 
Customer Service: $17.76 
Equipment Operator: $21.77 
WA True Living Wage: $24.46

MENTAL AND PHYSICAL DEMAND

Caregivers face an exhaustive work environment as a result of the resident to Caregiver ratio. With so many patients and so few Caregivers, it's challenging to address patient needs and even harder to address personal ones.

RAISE THE WAGE. RAISE THE QUALITY OF CARE.

Properly compensating our nation's Caregivers improves overall care for everyone.

RAISE THE WAGE

Raising equitable Caregiver wages and improving health benefits, not only shows that the work is valued, but also creates an opportunity for Caregiving to be a sustainable career. This initiative keeps money in local economies, decreases government welfare spending, enhance communities, and give confidence back to our Caregivers.

"Every dollar spent increasing Caregiver wages is realized in the economy as having a positive impact of $2.28" -PHCA

RAISE THE QUALITY OF CARE

We must fundamentally change the way we think about Caregiving. When Caregiving is a viable career, turnover decreases, and patient care improves.  As the pool of Caregivers becomes larger, superior care standards improve.

The Caregiver Shortage leads to a
shortage of quality care. As the pool of Caregivers becomes larger, excelling superior care standards. Only through sustainable career Caregivers can we sustain a high quality of care.

RAISE THE QUALITY OF LIFE

When Caregiving provides equitable wages, benefits, and time off, it impacts a family. For example, we know that a mother who is able to spend more time with her children, positively impacts the literacy, education, truancy, drug use, and incarceration rates.
Self-Reliance and personal confidence improve, and the ability to life without Social Welfare Benefits are realized.
Not to mention the other side effects on Gender Gap, Safety Net Savings, Poverty Rates, Caregiver Health and that of their children, Positive Economic Impact, and Equal geographic increase of living wage jobs.