4/14/2013 – As America Ages, Shortage of Help Hits Nursing Homes (Wall Street Journal)

WOODLAND, Calif.—A labor shortage is worsening in one of the nation’s fastest-growing occupations—taking care of the elderly and disabled—just as baby boomers head into old age.

Nursing homes and operators of agencies providing home-care services already are straining to find enough so-called direct-care workers, who help the elderly or disabled with such things as eating and bathing. They also face looming retirements in the current workforce, in which one-fifth of workers are 55 years old or older.

The reasons for the shortage: pay is low, typically less than $12 an hour, injury rates are high, and the work can be unpleasant and physically draining.

Read the full article at the Wall Street Journal.