WV Public Broadcasting – In 1965, Charleston, West Virginia was home to about 85,000 residents — now, that number has almost halved. The people who are left look a lot like the population in the rest of the state — namely white and older. And as they age, those older folks need someone to care for them. But across the United States, there’s a direct care worker shortage. Read/Listen.
“The growth is going to be tremendous, I mean we’re going to need millions,” said Robyn Stone, co-director of Leading Age — a non-profit aging research organization based in Boston. Millions is a slight exaggeration — but not by much. Data from the direct care worker advocacy organization PHI National projects that between 2018 and 2028, the direct care workforce will add 1.3 million jobs.
