BPC Sounds Alarm, Proposes Reforms to Tackle U.S. Direct Care Workforce Shortage

Washington, DC – For over two decades, the United States has grappled with a shortage of direct care workers, despite their indispensable role in providing long-term services and supports (LTSS) to older adults and individuals with disabilities. The COVID-19 pandemic intensified this crisis, leaving a workforce that will need to fill nearly 9 million jobs to meet consumer demand over the coming years.  

To tackle this problem, the Bipartisan Policy Center has unveiled a report highlighting the critical shortage of direct care workers in the United States, underscoring the urgent need for federal policy reforms to address this escalating crisis. The report, Addressing the Direct Care Workforce Shortage: A Bipartisan Call to Action, outlines the profound challenges—work environments, domestic workforce programs, and data collection—facing the direct care workforce, offering a set of bipartisan policy recommendations to address the crisis. 

Addressing these challenges is crucial not only for workforce growth but also for promoting gender and racial equity, as the direct care workforce is disproportionately composed of women (86%), people of color (60%), and immigrants (25%). 

To address these challenges, the report offers solutions, including:  

• Promoting retention of direct care workers through more supportive work environments;  
• Increasing the number of new workers through domestic and immigration policy reforms; and 
• Improving data collection to measure the impact of policy reforms. 

“It’s time for policymakers to address the direct care workforce shortage,” said Associate Director of BPC’s Health Program Lisa Harootunian. “As the U.S. population ages, the demand for these services will also rise. Without reforms, a shortage of these workers could negatively affect health outcomes and long-term health care spending. BPC’s report provides policymakers with a roadmap to tackle this shortage.” 

The recommendations aim to reshape the landscape of the direct care workforce and ensure that older adults and individuals with disabilities receive the care and support they deserve. 

BPC would like to thank the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for its support of this project. 

For more information or to access the full report, visit the website.