By: Rocío Sáenz
By: Rocío Sáenz
President Biden recently announced an ambitious infrastructure plan that will make a transformative investment in the jobs of today and tomorrow, not simply repairing roads and bridges, but also making a revolutionary investment in the infrastructure we need most: people. who work hard every day to keep our country running and our families safe.
Biden’s plan invests in some of the most important but often forgotten workers: workers of care. These are the people who care for our children, our loved ones when they are sick or older, and our neighbors who live with disabilities. They are babysitters, nurses, and home health care workers, the invisible heroes for millions of families and for our economy. Under this plan, there is no question that Biden deeply understands that today the fastest growing workforce in the country deserves to be respected, protected and paid.
From In fact, the care workforce is led by millions of women, many of them Latinas and immigrants, and Biden’s plan will transform their lives for the better.
In the care sector In the household, the 87 percent are women and more than 60 percent are people of color. It is a sector driven by Latinas and immigrants, along with women of all origins and social conditions. Improving home care jobs means helping working women we know have weathered the brunt of the COVID crisis – 17.
Women like Mónica Torres, a home care worker in Oakland, California, who has cared for patients in their homes for several years and is the only income earner to support his family, including his three American-born children. Monica lost her job at the beginning of the pandemic and was unemployed for almost a year. During this time, it was difficult to provide for her family and pay all the bills each month.
Empowering homecare workers like Monica will boost our economy, advance the path to a just recovery from the pandemic, and will advance the racial and economic justice we need. Infrastructure is often considered the foundation of our economy and community, but it goes far beyond the bricks and mortar that make up our roads and bridges. Our economy runs on that and much more, and we know that without care workers like Monica, everyone else can’t leave our home and go back to work.
But care workers health are not the only ones who would see their lives transformed with this plan. Right now, seniors and adults with disabilities often struggle to find and pay for the quality care and services they need.
Our population is increasing, people are living More years and families are looking for affordable options, including alternatives to nursing homes for the elderly. These factors add to a skyrocketing demand for home care professionals, and there are only 2.4 million care workers currently.
In the decade from 2018 to 2028, the homecare industry will need to fill approximately 4.7 million jobs for homecare workers. And for 2030 , there is likely a shortage of over 100.000 elderly caregivers.
But even as the care industry grows and grows, jobs are poorly paid, extremely demanding and offer very little protections where workers do not have access to a union. On average, home care workers earn just over $ 12 per hour and income Average annual rate is only $ 17. 200.
This work is critical infrastructure for our country because, with a solid foundation to support America’s professional care workers, all People in this nation can age with dignity and with access to quality long-term care. We must stop treating care like just another job sector, and start building the long-term care infrastructure on which our economy will rest for years to come.
And the president Joe Biden has a plan to do just that. The American Jobs Plan includes an investment of $ 400 for home care, which will create a million good union jobs with salaries and benefits that support the family, while ensuring that older adults and people with disabilities get the care they need.
It’s time for care workers like Monica to get a salary of at least $ 15 an hour to support their family, have the option to join a union with your co-workers to negotiate a better future, and have your work respected and protected. We must also address the fact that many care workers like Monica are immigrants who live in the shadows or with temporary status and deserve a path to citizenship to ensure their full participation in our economy, democracy and society. Monica came to this country when she was 13 years old and thanks to DACA she has been able to work to feed her children for the past few years, but she still lives in fear of being separated from them because of her temporary status. We must have a permanent path now, and it is up to Congress to make it a reality.
The American Jobs Plan is a once in a generation opportunity to create good, union, and supportive jobs. the family of the future through an employment plan aimed at our Latina women. Doing so will help reduce the individual burden of caring for loved ones on families, allowing them to return to their respective jobs while someone else takes care of the care. As we seek our way out of this pandemic, we need to restart our recovery while laying the foundations for an economy that works for everyone. Investing in care infrastructure does exactly that.
Rocío Sáenz is the Executive Vice President of the International Union of Service Workers – SEIU.