Res. No. 24

Resolution calling upon the State Legislature to pass, and the Governor to sign, S.5374-A/A.6329-A, the Fair Pay for Home Care Act.

By Council Members Hudson, Barron, Hanif, Ossé, Brannan, Gutiérrez, Cabán, Ayala, Gennaro, Joseph, Ung, Avilés, Sanchez, Won, Louis, Farías, De La Rosa, Restler, Narcisse, Brewer, Rivera, Williams, Bottcher, Menin, Nurse, Brooks-Powers and Lee

Whereas, According to a 2021 Mercer report, healthcare labor shortages are projected in every state across the U.S., with New York facing the worst home care worker shortage in the country; and

Whereas, The home care worker industry is one overwhelmingly staffed by women, immigrants, and people of color according to a 2020 report by PHI, a national organization working to strengthen the direct care workforce through research, advocacy, and workforce innovation; and

Whereas, The 2020 report by PHI found that 90 percent of direct care workers are women, 3 in 5 are people of color, and 1 in 4 are immigrants; and

Whereas, New York's population is projected to grow by 3 percent between 2021-2040, while the 65 and older population is expected to grow by 25 percent, and the number of adults over age 85 will grow by 75 percent, according to a City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center report on public investment in higher pay for New York State home care workers; and

Whereas, As a result of an aging population in New York, CUNY has also identified the number of home health aides and careers in personal care aide is projected to rise to more than 700,000 by 2028, up from 440,000 in 2018; and

Whereas, Older adults should be able to age at home with dignity, as the vast majority of people prefer, according to the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), which found that 76 percent of Americans ages 50 or older wanted to remain in their current residence as they age; and

Whereas, In 2019, a statewide survey of homecare agencies from CUNY found that 17 percent of positions went unfilled because of staff shortages, leaving many New Yorkers with unmet home care needs to consequently experience hospitalization or admittance to costly nursing homes to access needed services; and

Whereas, In July 2021, a New York State Senate Aging Committee report found that home care agency staffing shortages meant the agencies had to turn away as many as 30 percent of new cases; and

Whereas, The Aging Committee’s report also found that more than 1 in 7 low wage workers in NYC is a home care worker, 1 in 4 home care workers live below the federal poverty level, and over half rely on public assistance; and

Whereas, Data published by the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS USA) found that nationally, home care workers have the lowest median annual earnings of $17,200, followed by residential care aides with $21,000, and nursing assistances working in nursing homes who earn $23,300 annually; and

Whereas, Home healthcare workers in NYC made an average of $15.93 per hour in 2020, far below the living wage of $21.77 for a single person in Manhattan, as per the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s living wage calculator for New York; and

Whereas, Realizing the dire working conditions of home care personnel, Senator Rachel May and Assembly Member Richard Gottfried introduced S.5374-A/A.6329-A, entitled the “Fair Pay for Home Care Act,” to raise home care wages to 150 percent of the minimum wage, allowing home care workers to make at least $35,000 a year on average; and

Whereas, Home care workers make up one of the largest and most important sectors of our economy and deserve fair pay for the vital services they are providing to the City’s most vulnerable communities; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon the State Legislature to pass, and the Governor to sign, S.5374-A/A.6329-A, the Fair Pay for Home Care Act.

AH

LS #7024

02/16/2022