County office of ageing leaders are pushing New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) to act on the workforce crisis. Credit: John Lamparski /Contributor/Getty Images
Claiming New York’s home care sector is collapsing, 40 county executives penned a letter to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) urging her to sign legislation that would hike wages for home care workers.
The leaders, representing county offices of ageing, wrote that passage of the Fair Pay for Home Care Act would end the state’s “worst-in-the-nation home care crisis and protect older residents by investing in home care and workers now.”
The bipartisan bill would set base pay for home health aides at 150% of the local minimum wage, providing home care workers an annual income of $35,000 on average. A report by City University of New York estimated Fair Pay for Home would help fill 20,000 vacant home care jobs a year and create 18,000 jobs in other industries.
A report by the Home Care Association of New York found over 17% of home health aide positions are unfilled and more than 20% of home health nursing positions are vacant. The average turnover rate for home health aides is nearly 30%.
The ageing offices connect older residents and their families with home care workers, but the executives said demand for caregivers is now outstripping supply and will only get worse. They said New York’s overall population is estimated to grow 3% by 2040, but the number of adults over 65 will grow 25%.
“As this population grows, the number of individuals we are unable to connect to home care workers increases because workers are fleeing the sector due to poverty pay,” the executives wrote.
A state vaccine mandate for healthcare workers has also exacerbated the shortage of home health workers. The president and CEO of the New York State Association of Home Care Providers recently told McKnight’s Home Care Daily Pulse that many agencies have lost up to 20% of their staff due to the mandates.
