Care for America’s Elderly And Disabled People Relies on Immigrant Labor

As the elderly population in the United States is expected to double in size by 2050, health care workforce shortages are expected to increase. Three-and-a-half million additional workers will be needed in the next decade alone. Although several studies have examined the role that immigrants play in the formal health care sector, “Care for America’s Elderly and Disabled People Relies on Immigrant Labor” focuses on the immigrant role in nonformal settings such as private housing and nonmedical facilities. The study used the Annual Social and Economic Supplement of the 2018 Current Population Survey (CPS), a nationally representative survey conducted by the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which collected data on 180,084 people in March 2017. The researchers found that immigrants constituted 18.2 percent of health care workers, 27.5 percent of direct care workers, and 30.3 percent of nursing home housekeeping and maintenance workers. The category of direct care workers includes home health and personal care aides. The authors observe that these workers allow hundreds of thousands of Americans to live at home or in other nonmedical settings such as senior housing-- thereby reducing the need for expensive institutional care. “Curtailing immigration,” the authors conclude, “will almost certainly move us in the wrong direction…” in ensuring quality health care for all Americans.

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