Caring Across Generations

By Hilary Stern

As my parents age, I find myself constantly worrying about the care and support they receive. I know that someday, my children will be doing the same for me. For many, maintaining a quality life in old age means staying at home with a caretaker. Yet we question, are there enough care workers? Are they trained? Do they feel respected in their jobs?

As a nation, we are on the brink of a crisis in care. As we baby boomers age, the number of people needing long-term care is projected to grow from 13 million in 2000 to 27 million by 2050. There are currently only about 3 million long-term care workers. Families already face the challenge of finding quality care for their loved ones.

Currently, direct care workers and domestic workers filling these roles often work in strenuous and exploitative conditions with limited support or rights. These workers are providing a vital service to our families and communities, yet often lack access to training, career growth, and pathways to citizenship.

All of us - retirees, baby boomers, family members, and workers, have a stake in the issue.

Nationally, we are taking bold action to solve the problem. A visionary campaign, Caring Across Generations, seeks to provide dignity and respect to our elderly, and their caregivers. The values driven campaign brings together care providers, care recipients and their families to address the care gap, uplift our caregivers, and ultimately transform long-term care in the United States.

The campaign is being led by a national coalition of organizations representing women, older adults, people with disabilities, domestic workers, community organizations, students, labor and the faith community.

The national campaign has five core policy goals, the “Five Fingers of the Caring Hand”:
1) The creation of new, quality jobs in home care to meet the rapidly growing need for care,
2) Labor standards and improved job quality for the existing jobs and new jobs,
3) Training and career ladders for home care workers, to bring recognition to the work and improve the quality of care,
4) A new visa category and path to citizenship for immigrant care workers,
5) Support for individuals and families in need of support and access to quality care, including a tax credit for people paying out of pocket for care.

On July 12, I will join others from Seattle and from across the country in Washington DC for the Care Congress, uniting a diverse cross section of the community for a national dialogue about the future of care. We plan to bring that energy and dialogue back to Seattle.

We invite you to join us in shaping the effort and defining what care could look like here in Washington State. Your participation and voice as members of PSARA is essential for making change. I look forward to working together to create the support, care, and dignified jobs that will strengthen our families, our economy, and our community.

(Hilary Stern is Executive Director of Casa Latina and a member of PSARA.)