Issue link: http://maconmagazine.uberflip.com/i/1525586
August/September 2024 | maconmagazine.com 63 median childcare worker wage at $14.60 in 2023, and PHI puts the average hourly wage of home care workers at $14.50. As a result, many care workers live below the poverty line. Simultaneously, care work is more needed than ever. A recent report from Goldman Sachs reveals that lack of childcare greatly hinders small businesses. More than half (57%) of small business owners say that there is not enough quality, affordable childcare where they live. And 38% told researchers that a lack of childcare has had a negative impact on their ability to operate or grow their business. In terms of elder care, there are already over 692,000 people on a waitlist to receive home and community-based services through Medicaid. Combined with an aging population, this leaves vulnerable Americans waiting for years to receive the care they need. Dionne Davis, an Atlanta-based childcare worker "We believe a better future is possible, one in which Black women and caregivers experience abundant joy, safety, and wellbeing." that Black women are overrepresented in the paid care workforce in the U.S. They make up 28 percent of women home care workers and 29 percent of women workers in institutions (such as hospitals or senior living facilities), which is more than double their representation in the overall female workforce. Hispanic and immigrant women are overrepresented, too. It's important to understand these demographics in the context of the enormous demand for care work and how care workers are currently valued in the workforce. The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the S H A R O N B R A W L E Y has been doing elder care work for over 20 years in Macon. Looking at the new mural, she said, "Look at me ... that represents not just me but all the caregivers." U N I Q U E C L AY a Mercer alumna and childcare worker, believes that the most important thing for society at large is to recognize that childcare "needs to be for everyone. It needs to be free." As a part of We Dream in Black, she says, "We're doing the work" [to make that vision of childcare for all a reality].