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Title: Moving Within and Out of Direct Care: An Analysis of Annual Mobility of Direct Care Workers

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2022

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Abstract: Low wages, insufficient work hours, limited employment benefits, high workplace injury rates, and other precarious working conditions lead to high rates of turnover and churn in the direct care workforce. However, little is known about the characteristics of the workers who leave direct care occupations, versus those who stay-and the occupations into which they transfer. This research brief analyzes the annual mobility patterns of direct care workers and finds that, while a majority of the workers leaving a direct care job remain in the same occupation in a given year, a substantive proportion leave for different occupations that offer higher median wages without requiring higher levels of education or training. Notably, we also find that men and white workers exit direct care occupations at higher rates than women and workers of color. These findings underscore concerns about the (non-)competitiveness of direct care wages and support the case for raising wages and improving overall job quality to retain and recruit direct care workers. 2

Url: https://www.phinational.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/PHI-DCW-Mobility-Brief-2.26.25.pdf

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Authors: Kim, Jiyeon; Stepick, Lina

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Data Collections: IPUMS CPS

Topics: Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Population Health and Health Systems

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