Essential Yet Invisible

Oregon Homecare Workers and COVID-19

Written by Lina Stepick, Ph.D., Nannette “D” Carter-Jafri SEIU 503, Lisa Dodson, Ph.D.

A follow-up study to, The State of Homecare Work in Oregon: The Need to Invest in Raising Wages and Strengthening Labor Standards. Essential Yet Invisible explores how COVID-19 has intensified the risks and complexities of homecare work. Workers are often left to independently adjust care routines and adopt additional health and safety measures. Since homecare is predominantly performed by women and represents one of the most racially and ethnically diverse professions in Oregon and nationwide, these heightened challenges disproportionately impact women—especially women of color.

Homecare workers expressed that, despite being classified as essential, they feel sacrificial and undervalued. Underpaid homecare workers are often paying for necessary supplies out of pocket and must navigate anxieties from both increasingly unstable hours and earnings and fear of contracting the infection while working.