The Flip Side of Turnover: Employment Transitions and Occupational Attachment Among Low-Wage Care Workers in the United States

Scholars have explored the ways that conventional economic theory does not fully explain the distribution and characteristics of caring labor – the work, unpaid and paid, of caring for those who are young, elderly, or disabled. This paper explores a critical dimension of paid care – high turnover rates in the lowest-wage segment of the sector (including childcare, nursing homes, home health). Using longitudinal data from the 2008 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) in the US, it examines the “flip side” of that turnover by comparing occupational mobility among low-wage care workers to that of other low-wage service workers. The findings indicate that patterns of occupational transition among care workers are distinct in important ways. Understanding occupational attachment among paid care workers is critical to developing theoretical models about care and to creating care-specific policies to address employee turnover and its negative impact on care quality. HIGHLIGHTS High turnover in low-wage jobs in care-related fields has a negative impact on the quality of care. Low-wage care workers have longer job tenures and are more likely to stay in their field than other low-wage workers. Low-wage care workers experience more upward mobility than food service and cleaning workers, but less than office and sales workers. Low-wage care workers have high rates of transition to a period of not working. There is evidence of higher levels of occupational attachment among low-wage care workers than among other low-wage service workers.