WASHINGTON D.C.—Today, Senator Bob Casey (PA) introduced the Long-Term Care Workforce Support Act, a historic investment in the country’s direct care workforce. America is currently facing a dramatic shortage of direct care workers, which stems directly from decades of underinvestment, low wages, lack of benefits, and lack of worker protections.
The Long-Term Care Workforce Support Act would help improve this crisis by:
- improving wages
- bettering benefits
- increasing access to paid leave
- protecting the rights to collective bargaining
Below is a statement by Ai-jen Poo, executive director of Caring Across Generations:
“Direct care workers are vital to every aspect of our Nation’s strength. They care for our aging and disabled loved ones so that they can live independently and with dignity. They enable our families to thrive.
“The need for care workers in the country is only growing, as our nation ages and our lives extend. However, the care workforce continues to face unabated challenges and deep-seated inequalities: low pay, lack of access to paid leave, benefits or a safety net.
“Care workers wake up every morning and demonstrate their commitment to the families they care for. It’s past time we demonstrate our commitment to them. We applaud Senator Bob Casey for his leadership on this issue and urge Congress to pass this legislation so that we can care for those who care for us most.”
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Caring Across Generations is a national organization of family caregivers, care workers, disabled people, and aging adults working to transform the way we care in this country so that care is accessible, affordable and equitable— and our systems of care enable everyone to live and age with dignity.
To achieve our vision, we transform cultural norms and narratives about aging, disability and care; win federal and state-level policies; and build power amongst the people touched by care. For more information, visit caringacross.org.