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The US is now experiencing its fastest increase in the aging population in more than a hundred years, and more than 20% of the US population will be 65 or older by 2030. But the population of caregivers has not grown at the same pace, leading to staffing shortages.
Immigrants account for about one in six workers in the US – but they comprise about 30% of caregivers in longterm settings. The caregivers, often nurses and aides in hospitals, facilities, and homes, come from at least 163 countries, and Haitian immigrants are strongly represented at 7% of that workforce, according to a report from LeadingAge, the national association of non-profit and mission driven providers of aging services.
“Foreign-born staff are significant contributors to care and services our members provide, and that older adults and their families rely on,” said Lisa Sanders, vice-president of communications and media relations at LeadingAge. “Without staff, there is no care.”
The US House passed a Haiti TPS extension in April, but the Senate has yet to take action on an extension.
Allowing the TPS status of Haitians to expire will further exacerbate the caregiving crisis, as Haitians on temporary status will be forced to stop working as soon as the status expires, said Nixon Pierre-Louis, a Haitian-American citizen who works two jobs as a licensed practical nurse in Delaware.
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Care facilities – for instance, in south Florida and parts of Massachusetts and New York state – will face “significant” challenges, Sanders said.
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While the number of immigrant workers has stayed relatively stable despite US immigration crackdowns, the composition of the workforce has changed, according to a recent report from the nonpartisan health policy non-profit KFF. Immigrant workers who aren’t citizens have left the caregiving workforce in greater numbers, while naturalized citizens have joined it.
As aging service employers are often reimbursed by Medicaid and Medicare Advantage, they are limited in what they can do when faced with financial difficulties like these, Sanders said.
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Retaining experienced workers is one of the biggest challenges in home care; some 70% to 80% of new employees leave after about three months.
The recent supreme court decision is “one of many blows to the sector that relies on foreign-born staff, whose ability to work in the US increasingly is limited, because of actions by the current administration”, Sanders said.
Many Haitians on TPS status have lived in the US for years or decades, and they’re worried about paying mortgages and car payments and providing for their families. They are “on edge and anxious and concerned”, Pierre-Louis said.
Most Americans agree that immigrants frequently do jobs Americans do not want, according to surveys by Pew Research.
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The post Trump Immigration Cuts Could Worsen US Caregiver Shortage, Experts Say appeared first on American Renaissance.
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