I attended a fabulous conference on women and work at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Initially, I was thrilled to attend because I am curious about women-related issues. I’ve raised my 10-year old daughter single-handedly while putting myself through college as a direct care worker. I have a sense of pride that as a woman that I have been able to accomplish this without losing my enthusiasm for what I do every day. It fascinates me to learn about how other women handle their multiple responsibilities of work, family, and community. Where I live, many women stay home with their children, sometimes even after their youngest is in school full-time. I have wondered about what motivates women to make decisions about work and career.
I wasn’t sure about how the topic related to me as a direct care worker advocate, however. In my mind, the only connection I was making to direct care worker (DCW) issues was: most direct care workers are women. But attending Women & Work: Choices & Constraints made me think about other issues.
For instance, not only are most DCWs women, but they are underpaid, under-recognized, and not invested in as professionals. Most do not earn a livable income or have health insurance. They have almost no representation — only a few passionate advocates compared to their vast numbers. Most have no job security. If they experience a personal or family emergency, such as an accident or illness, many can’t afford to miss work. If they did, they could face a complete breakdown of their already fragile situation.
Obviously, the struggles of DCWs are huge. Let me be direct. Many social factors come into play that create this perfect storm scenario: discrimination against women, discrimination against low-wage workers, discrimination against people with disabilities and people who are aging. These are some of the broader social issues that exist.
The moment I realized this at the conference was extremely exciting. Here was a group of researchers (primarily women), most of whom study women, family, and work issues. A primary theme was what makes women quit working, or cut back to part-time hours, to take care of children and family: are they opting out or being pushed out?
DCWs not only fit within their discussions, DCWs were brought up A LOT. (Check out the program to see what we discussed.)
For me, this means that DCWs can talk about SO much more than their own experiences and their own field. We can talk about gender, race and class, economics, family life, workplace culture and values, and all kinds of other general issues that our cause ties into. We can make compelling arguments about why we deserve better. And we can make our case in so many different ways!
For example, the crisis in direct care is a major ECONOMIC issue. Yes, that will get the attention of all who care about the bottom line. One example is government, since many services are paid through Medicare and Medicaid. If the direct care system crumbles, it will be extremely costly to provide alternatives, like outlandishly expensive institutional care.
Presenters pointed out that direct care workers are among the least affluent women in the workforce, so most couldn’t opt out if they wanted to. This may be one of the underlying causes for the high DCW turnover. Some DCWs quit their jobs or are fired when pressures are too high, such as inflexibility around their family issues, no family-work balance, childcare issues, workplace that doesn’t support and value them. But, they can’t opt out for long because they need to be paid so they can survive and take care of their families. Turnover is one of the biggest problems in the direct care workforce, costing extraordinary amounts of money that could be used to increase wages. Exploring the turnover issue related to issues raised at this conference would be an excellent path to take.
There were so many other fascinating ideas and information.
I welcome comments on ways we can make our point by connecting with something bigger.
Read my next blog post about the conference
Bridget Siljander
Direct Care Worker Specialist, Direct Care Alliance
