FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 12, 2021
Contact: Shamier Settle, ssettle@fiscalpolicy.org, 347-834-5760
Domestic Workers are Essential Workers: By the Numbers in New York
Domestic Workers are Essential to our Economy and will be highlighted in Biden Infrastructure Plan
Read the report: “Domestic Workers are Essential Workers: By the Numbers in New York”
(Albany, NY) –Domestic workers are doing the intense and intimate labor of caring for our families and our households. As the fallout of the global pandemic has made clear, they are essential to our economy. Domestic workers include house cleaners, nannies, and home care aides who care for people with disabilities or who are elderly or infirm.
A new report from the Fiscal Policy Institute puts a spotlight on the domestic workers who are hidden and often left out of the narrative of who essential workers are. Of the 328,000 domestic workers in New York, 84 percent work as home care aides, ensuring that older and sick New Yorkers, and people with disabilities, can live with dignity. The remaining domestic workers are made up of nannies (8 percent) and house cleaners (8 percent). The report also shows that New York City has by far the most domestic workers per capita, 48 per 1,000 population, more than triple the number of the next highest region, the Lower Hudson with 14 domestic workers per 1,000 population. The report has regional data about New York City, Long Island, the Lower Hudson Valley, the Mid-Hudson Valley, and Northern and Western New York, with top-line data in this interactive map.
This data becomes particularly relevant in the context of the still emerging Biden/Harris infrastructure proposals, which early reports suggest will include an approach to uplifting domestic workers who are essential to our recovery.
“We know that domestic workers are often working in homes, hidden from the public eye, however their work is critical to our economy and must be considered in the discussion of essential workers,” said Shamier Settle, Policy Analyst at the Fiscal Policy Institute. “Domestic workers are overwhelmingly women, immigrants, and people of color, which coincides with the demographics who we know have been hit hardest by the Covid-19 virus and pandemic mitigation efforts.”
Marrisa Senteno, Co-Director of the New York Chapter of the National Domestic Workers Alliance said, “It is imperative we consider long-term solutions to supporting and caring for domestic workers, especially homecare workers, who represent the largest growing industry in the country. Our members care for the most vulnerable, including the elderly and people with disabilities, and we must consider how to make care work fair work. Thanks to this report we can better understand where resources and advocacy will affect one of the largest growing industries in the state.”
Read the report: “Domestic Workers are Essential Workers: By the Numbers in New York”
The Fiscal Policy Institute is a nonpartisan, nonprofit research and education organization committed to improving public policies and private practices to better the economic and social conditions of all. FPI’s Immigration Research Initiative looks at immigration issues in New York State, and around the country.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 12, 2021
Contact: Shamier Settle, ssettle@fiscalpolicy.org, 347-834-5760
Domestic Workers are Essential Workers: By the Numbers in New York
Domestic Workers are Essential to our Economy and will be highlighted in Biden Infrastructure Plan
Read the report: “Domestic Workers are Essential Workers: By the Numbers in New York”
(Albany, NY) –Domestic workers are doing the intense and intimate labor of caring for our families and our households. As the fallout of the global pandemic has made clear, they are essential to our economy. Domestic workers include house cleaners, nannies, and home care aides who care for people with disabilities or who are elderly or infirm.
A new report from the Fiscal Policy Institute puts a spotlight on the domestic workers who are hidden and often left out of the narrative of who essential workers are. Of the 328,000 domestic workers in New York, 84 percent work as home care aides, ensuring that older and sick New Yorkers, and people with disabilities, can live with dignity. The remaining domestic workers are made up of nannies (8 percent) and house cleaners (8 percent). The report also shows that New York City has by far the most domestic workers per capita, 48 per 1,000 population, more than triple the number of the next highest region, the Lower Hudson with 14 domestic workers per 1,000 population. The report has regional data about New York City, Long Island, the Lower Hudson Valley, the Mid-Hudson Valley, and Northern and Western New York, with top-line data in this interactive map.
This data becomes particularly relevant in the context of the still emerging Biden/Harris infrastructure proposals, which early reports suggest will include an approach to uplifting domestic workers who are essential to our recovery.
“We know that domestic workers are often working in homes, hidden from the public eye, however their work is critical to our economy and must be considered in the discussion of essential workers,” said Shamier Settle, Policy Analyst at the Fiscal Policy Institute. “Domestic workers are overwhelmingly women, immigrants, and people of color, which coincides with the demographics who we know have been hit hardest by the Covid-19 virus and pandemic mitigation efforts.”
Marrisa Senteno, Co-Director of the New York Chapter of the National Domestic Workers Alliance said, “It is imperative we consider long-term solutions to supporting and caring for domestic workers, especially homecare workers, who represent the largest growing industry in the country. Our members care for the most vulnerable, including the elderly and people with disabilities, and we must consider how to make care work fair work. Thanks to this report we can better understand where resources and advocacy will affect one of the largest growing industries in the state.”
Read the report: “Domestic Workers are Essential Workers: By the Numbers in New York”
The Fiscal Policy Institute is a nonpartisan, nonprofit research and education organization committed to improving public policies and private practices to better the economic and social conditions of all. FPI’s Immigration Research Initiative looks at immigration issues in New York State, and around the country.
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