Effect of state wage policies on direct care worker wages

Abstract Direct care workers (DCWs) have low wages and some states have tried to improve their wages through policies such as Medicaid wage pass-throughs and wage floors specific to DCWs. The purpose of this study was to examine the wages of DCWs in comparison to those of other entry level workers and assess the effect of state wage policies on changes in DCW wages. We analyzed state-level hourly wages using Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data for two categories of DCWs separately—(1) home health and personal care aides and (2) nursing assistants and compared these to wages for other entry-level workers. Results show that many states that implemented policies to improve the wages of DCWs reduced the gap between these workers’ wages and the wages of other entry-level workers, but the gap was still substantial in many states. Additional efforts will be needed to increase DCW wages.