Fernando Torres-Gil, director of UCLA Luskin’s Center for Policy Research on Aging and professor of social welfare and public policy, spoke to the Los Angeles Times about the increased cost of care for older Americans, paired with extremely low wages for home health aides. When it comes to elder care, both sides are suffering. Caretakers, some of whom take care of family members with disabilities, are not always paid a livable wage. Many older adults may lack sufficient funds to pay caretakers decent wages. Torres-Gil suggests creating “a public universal long-term-care financing mechanism we’re all required to pay into. … The question is, do we have sufficient public support for it? Do we have a public that recognizes the risks of growing older and all the things that come with it?”
Director, UCLA Center for Policy Research on Aging; Professor Emeritus of Social Welfare and Public Policy
Fernando M. Torres-Gil’s multifaceted career spans the academic, professional, and policy arenas. He is a Professor of Social Welfare and...
