Immigrants are Critical to Senior Care in U.S., Study Shows

A study published in Health Affairs examined the role immigrant labor plays in care for U.S. seniors, reports SlashGear . The researchers determined immigrants comprised a significant percentage of the U.S. workforce committed to the care and health of seniors and/or disabled citizens, and government policy to reduce immigration in the near future could have bad consequences. The authors estimated that 5.2 percent of the U.S. population is comprised of legal, noncitizen immigrants, who also make up 9 percent of direct care workers. Naturalized citizens, meanwhile, constitute up to 13.9 percent of all direct care workers. Moreover, 18.2 percent of healthcare workers in the United States are immigrants, as are 23.5 percent of formal and non-formal long-term care sector workers. In addition, immigrants comprise 27.5 percent of direct care workers and 30.3 percent of nursing community housekeeping and maintenance workers in the U.S.