The worldwide population is aging faster these days. The World Health Organization says that in five years one in six people globally will be 60 or older. According to the latest data from the Commonwealth Fund, nearly 10 million older people in the U.S. living in their homes require care and help with daily activities such as bathing, cooking, and cleaning. Many of them are isolated and alone, a situation that has been identified as a serious health concern. Nearly five million people work as direct healthcare providers to those older Americans, providing needed care and assistance while often mitigating their feelings of loneliness and isolation.
For many, that direct healthcare worker is a Latina. According to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, Latinas comprise nearly 8% of the U.S. labor force but almost 25% of all home health aides. A significant portion of Latinas in the labor market are performing an essential job in caring for older populations, but it pays low wages and perpetuates the Latino wealth gap.
Latina Direct Healthcare Workers
The Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute says the number of direct Latina healthcare workers grew by an astonishing 78% between 2005 and 2015 and continues to grow. The majority of these workers, 54%, were born in the U.S.; of those not born in the U.S., 22% are naturalized citizens, while 24% are not citizens. Latina healthcare workers tend to be less well-educated than non-Latinas in that job.
These workers are filling jobs that are predicted to grow, and the demand for those jobs is expected to outstrip supply. Traditional economic theory would predict a steady and significant wage increase, meaning an opportunity for direct healthcare workers to increase their income and ability to save and invest. However, despite demand consistently outpacing supply, wages for workers have only minimally increased.
A 2019 study in the American Journal of Public Health found significant economic vulnerability among female healthcare workers in the U.S., especially those providing direct healthcare services. While the economic condition of all direct healthcare workers is tenuous, it is worse for Latinas than others. Researchers at CEPR found that between 2019 and 2021 the median wage for direct healthcare workers is $11.35 per hour and that among those providing care to patients in their homes, the highest percentage living in poverty are Latinas at 22%, which is about 30% greater than the rate for whites in the same job.
Why Latinas Continue To Work As Direct Healthcare Providers
Despite the low wages and grueling physical demands of direct healthcare work, many Latinas find these jobs essential and rewarding. In interviews with Latina direct healthcare workers across the country, many say caring for the elderly was central to their culture. Still, they were keenly aware that the pay for a job they liked was problematic.
One Latina in California, who did not provide her name for privacy reasons, says, “The people I care for are alone, and they need help. I do not understand why their families are not there to care for them and keep them company.” She describes how she treats them as family because “That is what we do in our culture, we respect and care for the elderly, we don’t leave them alone.” She also says how much the people she cares for make her smile and teach her things. When asked if she liked her job, she says yes but also wishes to make more money to put aside for her son’s education.
A Latina direct healthcare worker in Florida who did not provide her name for privacy reasons told stories illustrating why she loved working with the elderly. Some of the stories she mentioned involved her older patients giving her advice. She reports that the advice was helpful, and she was grateful to have them as teachers. She also says she often brought her children to work with her becasue she wanted them to understand how important her work was and how proud she was to do it. She also wanted them to learn the importance of respect for their elders. She wanted them to understand that caring for people in need, especially as they age, is important. When asked why bringing her children to her job was necessary to teach those lessons, she asks, “Have you ever heard that actions speak louder than words? I want to show my children, not just tell them.”
Nonetheless, when asked about her wages, she saus she couldn’t understand why caring for those in need, especially the elderly who have contributed so much to this country, did not pay better. She says she often worried she wouldn’t have enough money but thought her work was a “calling to help others.”
Going Forward
Several organizations PHI advocate for better wages and benefits for all direct healthcare workers. Policies centering on unionization, guaranteed benefit packages, and career mobility opportunities are proposed—and sometimes implemented—and are economically complex. Finding a solution that increases wages will help individual workers and will likely increase the number of people willing to do these jobs.
Direct healthcare workers plan an essential role in ensuring that the older Americans can age in place and, in many cases, ward off loneliness and isolation. It makes sense for these workers – nearly all of whom are women – to earn wages that allow them not to live in poverty. For Latinas, higher wages mean they can stay in a rewarding job while increasing their opportunities to save money. This means they have a realistic chance to accumulate wealth, allowing them to take a small step toward bridging the wealth gap.
Read the full article here