Caring Career Workforce Challenges
June 27, 2023
The number of people working in home-, community- and facility-based care remains well below pre-pandemic levels, while the need for such caregivers continues to rise – and demographics are a big reason for both of these challenges.
Minnesota's median age continues to inch up – meaning there are fewer people of working age and there is greater need for people to provide care and support as Minnesotans grow older. Minnesota is not alone in this demographic shift: the U.S. Census Bureau released a report this month showing how dramatically U.S. demographics are shifting as more and more Baby Boomers are moving further into their retirement years. The median U.S. age is now 38.9, up from 30 in 1980.
Due to this demographic shift – Minnesota has a higher percentage of its population in the Baby Boomer generation than the nation as a whole – Minnesota's labor force is not growing quickly enough to meet demand. In fact, without an increase in international or domestic migration, it's not expected to grow much at all over the next two decades. For this reason, direct care – sometimes called Caring Career – positions will continue to witness high demand. This is due in part due to Baby Boomers needing more services as they age, but also because people will keep retiring from or otherwise moving on from direct care positions.