Skip Navigation


The Gerontologist Advance Access originally published online on July 2, 2009
The Gerontologist 2009 49(5):635-650; doi:10.1093/geront/gnp071
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
49/5/635    most recent
gnp071v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Morris, L.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Morris, L.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.

Quits and Job Changes Among Home Care Workers in Maine: The Role of Wages, Hours, and Benefits

Lisa Morris, PhD1,2

2 Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service, Public Policy Analysis, University of Southern Maine, Portland

1 Address correspondence to Lisa Morris, PhD, Muskie School of Public Service, University of Southern Maine, Wishcamper Building, P.O. Box 9300, Portland, ME 04104-9300. E-mail: lmorris{at}usm.maine.edu


  Abstract

Purpose: Figuring out how to make home care jobs more attractive has become a top policy priority. This study investigates the impact of wages, hours, and benefits on the retention of home care workers. Design and Methods: Using a 2-wave survey design and a sample of home care workers from Maine, the factors associated with turnover intentions, actual turnover, and job-to-job transitions are examined. The analysis uses actual data on hours, wages, and benefits at current and subsequent jobs and controls for perceived rewards and work conditions, personal characteristics, and local labor market conditions. Results: Although the analysis finds that improved work conditions and non-pecuniary rewards of home-based direct care work have significant negative effects on turnover intentions, compensation accounts for more actual job turnover. Higher wages, more hours, and travel cost reimbursement are found to be significantly associated with reduced turnover. Although wages and hours appear to have stronger effects, health benefits do appear to have some significance in predicting job-to-job transitions. Implication: Although improving compensation presents budgetary challenges to home care agencies, for this low-income workforce, the ability to earn higher wages and work more hours may be more of an imperative than improved work conditions.

Keywords: Wages, Benefits, Turnover, Analysis—regression models, Long-term Care, Workforce issues

Received November 11, 2008; Accepted March 16, 2009

Decision Editor: William J. McAuley, PhD


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.