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 34,991,753 (12.4%) of the total U.S. population (281,421,906) were aged 65 and over, a 12% increase since 1990. The U.S. Census estimates that by 2030 the elder population will increase by 104.2%. By that year the traditional caregiving workforce (women aged 25 to 44) will increase by only 6.9%.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that in 2004 2,512,940 nursing assistants, home health aides, and personal care/home care aides worked in the United States earning an average of $9.37 per hour. The BLS anticipates that 868,000 new direct-care positions will be created by 2012, a 34% increase over the number of positions in 2002. These numbers do not include many direct-care workers who are self-employed.

According to a survey by the American Healthcare Association (AHCA) in 2002 the nationwide vacancy rate for CNAs was 8.5% and the turnover rate was 71.1%. It is anticipated that the Nation's already high rates of direct-care worker vacancies and turnover (in a 2003 national survey, 35 states reported that they considered direct-care workforce vacancies a serious problem) will get worse as the population continues to age, and 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, Census 2000 Brief
2) Results of the 2003 national survey of state initiatives on the long-term care direct-care workforce.
3) Who are direct-care workers?