ABSTRACT

Home healthcare – to the elderly and those with chronic health conditions – is growing in importance in the COVID-19 pandemic era. In the United States, public investment in home healthcare can be a win-win strategy for public health and economic security. Yet, home healthcare has remained chronically underpaid and neglected in the policy response to the COVID-19 crisis. This article examines the impacts of large-scale public investment in the home healthcare industry. It finds that such investment can stabilize employment for millions of low-income women and, through their renewed economic activity, create or stabilize employment in the sectors hardest hit by the pandemic and where low-income women are concentrated: non-home healthcare, food service, and retail. The study concludes it is crucial to push for robust investment in home healthcare as policymakers in the US consider major public support for a variety of industrial sectors.

HIGHLIGHTS

• In the pandemic, access to home healthcare is more important than ever before.

• Public investment in the home healthcare workforce would support millions of jobs.

• The home healthcare workforce is mainly made up of low-income women, disproportionately women of color.

• Investment in home healthcare could motivate important public support for other care sectors.

摘要

在COVID-19大流行时代，针对老年人和患有慢性疾病的家庭医疗保健的重要性日益提高。在美国，对家庭医疗保健的公共投资可以成为公共卫生和经济安全的双赢策略。然而，在针对COVID-19危机的政策应对措施中，家庭医疗保健一直被长期低薪且被忽视。本文研究了大规模公共投资对家庭医疗保健行业的影响。研究发现，这种投资可以稳定数百万低收入妇女的就业，并通过其重新开展的经济活动，在受到大流行影响最严重且低收入妇女集中的部门创造或稳定就业：非家庭医疗保健，食品服务和零售。

强调

• 在大流行中，获得家庭医疗保健比以往任何时候都更为重要。

• 对家庭医疗保健劳动力的公共投资将为数百万个工作岗位提供支持。

• 家庭保健工作人员主要由低收入妇女组成，不成比例的有色妇女组成。

• 对家庭医疗保健的投资可能会激发公众对其他医疗保健部门的重要支持。