Minimum Wage Battle Moves In On Home Health Care

Last year, one of the industry's leading for-profit companies, Home Instead Senior Care, spent at least $362,0000 fighting the Labor Department's proposal, even as it yielded an 18.8 ratio of investment to revenue, USA Today reported. The industry has increased in profitability -- and employment -- since 2006, even as so many other industries shed employees and businesses declared bankruptcy.

 According to MSNBC, privately-owned home health care companies saw a revenue increase of 12.8 percent over the last two years and net profit margins of about 8 percent, while their public counterparts saw revenues rise by 2.5 percent over the same time period, and saw net profit margins of 4 percent.

There are currently around 1.7 million home care workers, according to the National Employment Law Project, a low-wage workers advocacy group. In 2009, those who worked 40 hours per week in the industry earned a little over $20,000 a year -- below the federal poverty line for a family of four.

Read it at The Huffington Post
Minimum Wage Battle Moves In On Home Health Care
by Lila Shapiro

Government assistance for the working poor subsidize firms that pay a wage that is below the poverty line.