Many in-home caregivers have rapidly lost most of their income, with more than 55% of workers reporting that they could not make rent in April, according to an April 8 study from the Economic Policy Institute and the National Domestic Workers Alliance.
“The bureaucracy has created unnecessary barriers that prevent people from getting the help they need,” says Julia Wolfe, an economic analyst for the Economic Policy Institute. “The human cost of not including domestic workers in federal relief will be devastating.”
The median age for domestic workers is 45, about four years older than other occupations, according to the Economic Policy Institute. It’s a field that tends to employ a lot of women, millions of whom are women of color, and the primary breadwinners in their families. Numerous studies have shown that these lower-wage “pink collar” jobs tend to be less flexible, have less benefits like retirement plans, and pay less than other male-dominated industries like construction and manufacturing.
With the economy at a standstill, the National Domestic Workers Alliance and the Economic Policy Institute are pushing for future stimulus bills to be more expansive — and to provide financial assistance to workers without social security numbers or tax returns.