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COMMENTARY: Better Jobs for Direct-Care Workers Help All Working Families

June 23, 2014

In a Huffington Post commentary that appeared in concert with the White House Summit on Working Families on June 23, PHI President Jodi Sturgeon called on the White House to add direct-care workers to its working families priorities.

The Summit is “shining light on the needs of America’s working women and the challenges they face managing jobs, raising children, and caring for aging parents,” Sturgeon wrote.

Noting that the White House focused a lot of attention on professional, middle-class women in the regional events leading up to the Summit, Sturgeon noted that many working women, including over 4 million direct-care workers, are in low-wage jobs that provide little financial security for their families.

Improving the jobs of direct-care workers can improve the lives of millions of women across America, said Sturgeon, drawing attention to three essential reforms: better wages, paid leave, and opportunities for advancement.

“The Working Families Summit can address the needs of all working women by addressing the dual challenge of improving direct-care jobs and providing quality supports and services for our nation’s elders and people living with disabilities,” Sturgeon wrote. “Doing so will also bring relief to millions of working American women who need a stable, skilled, and compassionate direct-care workforce to help them balance full-time work responsibilities with caring for their families and communities.”

— by Karen Kahn, PHI Communications Director

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