Oregon’s population is getting older, faster than in most other states. And that inexorable demographic reality is on a collision course with the reality of the workforce that cares for Oregon’s elderly population. Simply stated, the workers who care for seniors are quitting in droves, driven away by the low pay and tough working conditions that come with the job.

If we want our parents and grandparents to live out their later years in dignity, we also need to respect the workers who care for them. We need to recognize that direct care workers must have dignity in the workplace. Oregon can do that by establishing a workforce standards board that improves working conditions for the entire industry.

At the turn of the millennium, Oregon had twice as many children as it had people 65 and older. But ever since 2023, the number of seniors has exceeded the number of kids. Researchers estimate that by 2050, a quarter of the state’s population will be 65 and older. Some of the fastest growth will occur among people 85 and older.

Who will care for our aging population? That’s unclear, because even today the turnover among the workers who care for seniors and people with disabilities “is extraordinarily high,” according to a study conducted by Oregon State University. Half of these care workers quit their jobs in the course of a year.

“A wide range of analyses have identified several causes of longstanding high turnover and vacancy rates among direct care workers,” the study said. “The most important are low pay and limited benefits, but other reasons . . . include poor working conditions, limited training, few career advancement opportunities, and a widespread undervaluation of direct care work.” 

Not only are direct care workers paid much lower wages than many other entry-level jobs, but their jobs are often part-time work, forcing them to balance working for multiple employers at a time. 

As if these challenges were not enough, the job itself comes with physical and emotional risks. Direct care workers are more likely to be injured compared to most workers, not only because it’s a physically demanding job, but also because they are more likely to encounter violence in the workplace. The job is also emotionally demanding, yet care workers receive little in the way of resources to support them through the hardships of caring for clients with severe illnesses or disabilities. 

How can it be that a job so important as caring for our family members who cannot care for themselves pays so little while demanding so much of workers? To a large extent, the answer lies in the fact that the direct care workforce is held together by women and people of color, including many immigrants. Home care workers were excluded from New Deal protections in the 1930s due to a racist compromise that denied farmworkers and domestic workers, disproportionately Black workers at the time, the same workplace standards and collective bargaining rights other workers received. At the same time, work in the domestic sphere has been seen as “women’s work” and only needing limited pay. 

Although direct care workers finally achieved protections under the Fair Labor Standards Act in 2013, the Trump administration is threatening to roll back some of those gains. This comes at a time when Oregon is needing 65,000 direct care jobs to meet demand by 2030.  

Oregon lawmakers have some serious work to do if they’re going to make care work a more attractive profession, where workers are not constantly quitting their jobs.  The first step is to establish a workforce standards board for care workers. A workforce standards board is a public body that brings together all those involved — workers, employers, as well as the recipients of care—to establish minimum wages and working conditions for the entire industry. 

While workforce standards boards would be innovative for Oregon, they’re not a new idea. Across the country, many states have already implemented standard boards to fix industries and give workers a real voice. They’ve been created for the fast food industry in California and the agriculture industry in New York.   

But they’ve also been used in the care industry. In 2023, for instance, Minnesota established the Nursing Home Workforce Standards Board. Since then, the board has set rules regarding wages, holiday pay, training, and other working conditions. Colorado and Nevada have also established workforce standards boards for care workers. 

Oregon would do well to create a workforce standards board for direct care workers, where the people who know this work best develop strategies and solutions for the industry. Through this board, Oregon can sustain a robust industry where older adults receive the care they need and where caregivers can afford to stay in their careers and thrive.