what if we really cared?
I've been thinking a lot lately about the situation our caregivers face.
A friend of mine is doing a lot of work on a campaign around the absolutely shocking pay and conditions caregivers face - many are on minimum wage, or not a lot more, there is virtually no pay scale (meaning within two or three years you are at the top of the scale and can never go any higher), and understaffing is chronic.
These are the workers who look after the most vulnerable in our society - the sick, the old, the mentally and physically disabled. They empty bedpans, give people bed baths (not as nice as you might imagine, especially for the washer), spoon food into mouths and care when families can't (or don't). They work in rest homes, unit houses and private homes. They are mostly women, often Polynesian or new migrants, and some of them work two jobs to make ends meet.
Caregivers are so invisible in our society, yet what they do is so very important. Why don't we care more about the people who do this work?
There is some quote about how you should judge a nation by how it treats its most vulnerable citizens. How we treat the few who care for those people must surely be a strong indicator of just how much we care fullstop.
1 comment:
thanks X - I spent some of today with some caregivers and wow they are amazing people! I had to sort of interview two of them about their work and they were very articulate and smart, not at all the kind of people you would expect to be working for $12 and less an hour. They obviously cared very much about their jobs and the people they look after.
One of them worked 40 hours caregiving whilst studying for the last year - she said she won't be able to do that again next year it is just too hard, but she did it because she had to, to survive.
Surely we can afford to pay these valuable and important people a bit more?
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