Background

State Statistics (see below for key to abbreviations)

PC/HC Aide = Personal Care/Home Care Aide HHA = Home Health Aide CNA = Certified Nursing Assistant -- These charts include numbers for the BLS occupational group "nursing aides, orderlies and attendants." Avg DCW = Average direct-care worker wages -- calculated as a weighted median United States and state abbreviations are used (ex: VT = Vermont)

In 2000 2,064,330 (9.9%) of Texas' 20,851,820 citizens were aged 65 or older. This represents a 20% increase since 1990. The US Census estimates that by 2015 Texas' elder population will increase 150.2%. By that year the traditional caregiving workforce (women aged 25 to 44) will increase by 34%.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that in 2004 245,330 nursing assistants, home health aides, and personal care/home care aides worked in Texas earning an average of $7.18 per hour. These numbers do not include many direct-care workers who are self-employed.

It is anticipated that the state's already high rates of direct-care worker vacancies and turnover (according to a 2002 ACHA Nursing Position Vacancy and Turnover Study National Survey, the turnover rate in Texas for 2002 was 105.2%) will get worse as the population continues to age. The 'care gap' between those needing care and those available to care for them continues to widen.

Sources:
1) The 65 years and over population: 2000
2) 2001 ACHA Nursing Position Vacancy and Turnover Study