PHI State Data Center Provides Current Workforce Data
PHI recently updated the PHI State Data Center, the first web-based tool to provide comprehensive, state-by-state profiles of the direct-care workforce — one of the largest and fastest-growing workforces in the nation.
Using Current Population Survey (CPS) data collected from 2012 to 2014 and Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) from 2015, PHI released updates to the following areas:
- trends in wages for home health aides, personal care aides, and nursing assistants
- information on health insurance coverage rates
- worker reliance on public assistance
Key Findings
According to the most recent OES data, 4.4 million direct-care workers were employed nationwide in 2015, an increase of over 125,000 workers from the previous year. Despite increasing demand for paid caregivers, inflation-adjusted wages have fallen by 4 percent over the past 10 years, from an average of $11.60 per hour in 2005 to $11.08 per hour in 2015.
There is some good news, however. The downward trend in wages, which began in 2009, finally ended in 2014. Due in part to successful wage initiatives in some states — including increases to the minimum wage — inflation-adjusted wages rose on average $0.27 from 2014 to 2015.
Still, nearly half (48 percent) of direct-care workers rely on public assistance, including Medicaid (39 percent) and nutrition assistance (31 percent), according to the CPS.
State Data Available
The PHI State Data Center profiles the direct-care workforce — nursing home aides, home health aides, and personal care assistants (including direct support professionals) — in every state. It provides easy-to-read, state-by-state charts with up-to-date, key direct-care workforce statistics, which can be easily downloaded and reproduced.
— by Stephen Campbell, PHI Policy Research Associate
