Nursing homes employ large proportions of their workforce at the minimum wage. This project sought to understand the potential impacts of federal minimum wage increases on nursing staff hours and labor costs of nursing homes. We found that an increase of the federal minimum wage would result in large proportions of nursing assistants gaining a wage increase, thereby increasing direct labor costs to nursing homes. These results are based on national estimates.
This brief was prepared under contract #HHSP233201600021I between HHS's ASPE/DALTCP and RTI International. For additional information about this subject, you can visit the DALTCP home page at https://aspe.hhs.gov/office-disability-aging-and-long-term-care-policy-daltcp or contact the ASPE Project Officers at HHS/ASPE/DALTCP, Room 424E, H.H. Humphrey Building, 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201; Iara.Oliveira@hhs.gov, Marie.Squillace@hhs.gov.
DISCLAIMER: The opinions and views expressed in this brief are those of the authors. They do not reflect the views of the Department of Health and Human Services, the contractor or any other funding organization. This brief was completed and submitted in December 2019.