Retirement ought to be attainable for hardworking home care workers. As your senator from the 49th Legislative District, I also serve as a member of the Health Care Committee. Each day, thousands of home care workers provide critical, basic personal assistance to seniors and those living with disabilities who are our friends, neighbors, and in many cases, our loved ones. These caregivers are integral to the fabric of our communities and help make it possible for more people to age or live safely in their homes.
We rely on home care workers to take care of our most vulnerable, yet we pay them minimum wage — just $9.47 an hour. At this rate, how can we expect our workers, who are aging themselves, to save for retirement when they’re living paycheck to paycheck?
Our state passed an operating budget that ratifies the collective bargaining agreements which include a 23 cents-per-hour retirement contribution for our home care workers. These funds will help provide a modest benefit to supplement the small retirement benefits that retired home care workers would receive from Social Security.
We were able to honor the agreement that was negotiated — the option to retire with some ability to survive shouldn’t be a luxury for just a lucky few. Retirement should be an attainable goal for all of us.
