Payment for Homecare Workers

In Los Angeles County (California, USA), family members caring for an elderly or disabled relative can be paid as a homecare worker!  The Every Mother is a Working Mother Network, co-ordinated by the Wages for Housework Campaign, got the LA County Department of Public Social Services (DPSS) to agree to notify CalWORKs mothers (moms mandated by welfare ‘reform’ to get a job outside the home) that they may be eligible to be hired as a homecare worker and paid by the County, in these circumstances: caring for a family member, friend or neighbor who is elderly or who has a disability. It is the choice of the person who is being cared for who they want as caregiver. 

Alex Aleman, Assistant to the President, Homecare Workers Union, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 434B, Los Angeles:  “There are 74,000 homecare workers in LA County, 90% of them are women…It is definitely a tragedy that women get paid much less than men although they may be doing the same work, or because they’re doing care work their work is demeaned and is considered less marketable.  The Homecare Workers are delighted to be part of the [Global] Women’s Strike and put on the map the issue that women deserve respect and dignity, and that women are doing such valuable work that it should be recognized…”

Money Won

What Changes We've Won

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