The challenges home care workers face

As the elder population grows — and wants to stay at home rather than turn to a nursing home or hospital — the need for home health aides does, too. Employment in this field is expected to increase more than 30 percent over the next decade, much faster than the overall average.

With fast growth, however, come growing pains. Low wages, insufficient benefits and a lack of quality training pose challenges for these workers as the industry expands and provides care for aging America. Guest host Chris Farrell talks with an analyst and the co-founder of a home-care cooperative to understand the growth of this field and what’s needed to improve job quality.

Guests:

• Kippi Waters, co-founder of Peninsula Homecare Cooperative in Washington.

• Stephen Campbell, data and policy analyst at PHI, a national nonprofit.

To listen to the full conversation you can use the audio player above.

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