Valuing our Caregivers
 
“Congratulations to the Human Rights Commission (HRC) on their much needed report into the aged care sector whose client base is growing rapidly and whose workforce is significantly undervalued and underpaid,” National Council of Women of New Zealand (NCWNZ) President Elizabeth Bang said today.
 
Elizabeth Bang was commenting on the HRC’s report Caring Counts which has identified, among other issues, the need for higher pay and more status for caregivers in New Zealand – the vast majority of whom are women.
 
“The issues raised in this report need to be addressed urgently as our rapidly ageing population will require greater access to appropriate aged-care services.
 
“Recognition needs to be given to the fact that  care-giving is a job which demands training and professional skills, as well as personal qualities that enable a worker to be caring, understanding and able to cope with unhappy, unwell or difficult clients.
 
“For some time now, NCWNZ has recommended that there should be a meaningful career pathway for aged care workers with pay increments linked to training, experience and skills,” Elizabeth Bang said.
 
“We are also firmly of the view that travel allowances should cover real and actual costs, especially when a caregiver is required to travel outside their own suburban living area, and taking into account the huge distances between clients of caregivers in rural areas.

“As a society we need to ask how much do we value the elderly and therefore what value do we place on those who care for them in their homes, in residential care facilities or in hospitals?
 
“The answer is ‘Not Enough!’ The significant inequalities experienced by our aged care workforce need to be addressed and they need to be addressed now,” concluded Elizabeth Bang.

ENDS

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