“Thanks to the aging baby boomers and our strong preference for home care over institutional care, home care work is one of the few job categories that’s sure to grow over the next few years. We can do nothing to improve those jobs and swell the ranks of the working poor, forcing hundreds of thousands more people to turn to public assistance despite working 40 hours or more a week. Or we can strengthen our middle class by ensuring that home care jobs provide fair wages and basic labor protections.” So says an editorial by National Employment Law Project Executive Director Christine Owens and DCA Director of Policy and Planning David Ward that was published today in The Hill’s Congress Blog.
In Care Work in America: Expected but not respected, Owens and Ward debunk the myths that are being spread by the for-profit national home care corporations that are leading the fight against the U.S. Department of Labor’s proposed home care rule, which would extend Fair Labor Standards Act protections to most home care workers. Ward and Owens also urge readers to submit comments in favor of the rule to the Department of Labor.
“Our economy is at a crossroads, and the proposed rule is an important step in the right direction,” they conclude.
As the executive director of Alpha One, Maine’s Center for Independent Living, and a longtime advocate for people with a disability, I have experienced direct care work as a consumer, an employer, and an advocate. Home care workers play a vital role in allowing people to remain independent, in their own homes, and active in their communities, and they deserve 
