New York’s unpaid family caregivers need a reliable, stable system to provide home care services that assist them in helping their loved one’s age at home, as the vast majority want – rather than in less desirable, costlier, and mostly taxpayer-funded nursing homes.
But pay for home care workers continues to be too low to attract and maintain an adequate workforce, which in turn has led to a shortage of available home care at a time when need is fast increasing as the state’s 65-plus population is skyrocketing.
The Legislature and Governor came together last year and increased pay for workers by $2 per hour for the current state fiscal year and an additional $1 an hour for a second year. However, there has been confusion surrounding how and whether that money is going from insurance companies to home care agencies - and ultimately to the workers. This is on top of concerns about Governor Hochul’s plans to raise the minimum wage in her current budget proposal.
Increasing the minimum pay for home care workers to 150% of the regional minimum wage would spur more steady employment in home care services across the state and help more New Yorkers receive home care services, while stabilizing the home care system.
