COVID-19 and Workers at Risk: Examining the Long-Term Care Workforce
| Table 1: Number and Share of Long-Term Care Workers, by Setting and Job Category | ||||
| Number of workers | Skilled nursing facilities | Assisted living facilities | Home health | |
| Total, all categories | 4,538,000 | 1,889,000 | 1,156,000 | 1,493,000 |
| Aides and personal care workers | 2,424,000 | 49% | 37% | 72% |
| Direct contact support workers | 593,000 | 17% | 22% | 2% |
| Health care providers | 651,000 | 19% | 8% | 13% |
| Social and behavioral health workers | 152,000 | 2% | 9% | 1% |
| Other support workers and managers | 719,000 | 14% | 24% | 12% |
| NOTE: Number of workers rounded to nearest thousand. SOURCE: KFF analysis of American Community Survey, 2018. |
||||
| Table 2: Characteristics of LTC Workers, by Occupational Category | |||||||
| LTC workers overall | Occupational Category | ||||||
| Number | Percent | Aides and personal care workers | Direct contact support workers | Health care providers | Social and behavioral health workers | Other support workers and managers | |
| Total, all LTC workers | 4,538,000 | 100% | 2,424,000 | 593,000 | 651,000 | 152,000 | 719,000 |
| Sex | |||||||
| Male | 803,000 | 18% | 12% | 33% | 14% | 28% | 25% |
| Female | 3,735,000 | 82% | 88% | 67% | 86% | 72% | 75% |
| Age group | |||||||
| Under age 50 | 2,832,000 | 62% | 65% | 56% | 61% | 68% | 58% |
| 50-64 | 1,366,000 | 30% | 28% | 35% | 31% | 26% | 33% |
| 65+ | 340,000 | 8% | 7% | 9% | 7% | 6% | 9% |
| Race/ethnicity | |||||||
| White non-Hispanic | 2,362,000 | 52% | 43% | 55% | 65% | 61% | 65% |
| Black non-Hispanic | 1,188,000 | 26% | 32% | 24% | 18% | 25% | 16% |
| Hispanic | 607,000 | 13% | 16% | 14% | 7% | 10% | 11% |
| Other race/ethnicity | 381,000 | 8% | 9% | 7% | 11% | 5% | 8% |
| Poverty status | |||||||
| Below poverty | 474,000 | 10% | 15% | 10% | 4% | 4% | 4% |
| 100% – below 200% | 973,000 | 21% | 27% | 26% | 9% | 15% | 12% |
| 200% – below 400% | 1,583,000 | 35% | 36% | 38% | 27% | 39% | 33% |
| 400% or more | 1,508,000 | 33% | 22% | 26% | 60% | 42% | 50% |
| Education level | |||||||
| Less than high school | 465,000 | 10% | 13% | 19% | 2% | 2% | 4% |
| High school graduate | 1,314,000 | 29% | 35% | 41% | 6% | 13% | 21% |
| Some college | 1,786,000 | 39% | 43% | 28% | 41% | 26% | 36% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more | 973,000 | 21% | 9% | 11% | 51% | 59% | 39% |
| NOTE: Number of workers rounded to nearest thousand. Numbers may not sum due to rounding. Data for other racial/ethnic groups includes American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and multiple races. SOURCE: KFF analysis of American Community Survey, 2018. |
|||||||