Santa Clara County home aid workers see pay increase

After years of meager wage increases, thousands of home aid workers in Santa Clara County will receive a bump in their hourly pay amid a tight budget cycle — a move advocates said is necessary but falls short to cover rapidly rising costs of living.

The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a new two-year contract for In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) workers that includes a $2 hourly wage incremental increase over the next year. By July 2027, more than 36,000 workers will be making $22.44 an hour. The contract was secured through negotiations with SEIU Local 2015, a union representing more than 21,200 long-term care workers in the county.

“I am pleased that the union and the county have reached an agreement that stays within our budgetary constraints while strengthening support for our IHSS workers,” District 4 Supervisor Susan Ellenberg told San José Spotlight. “The work our IHSS providers do is essential to the health and well‑being of older adults and residents with disabilities. I deeply value their contributions and am glad we were able to arrive at a positive resolution.”

The costs for the program are split between the federal, state and local governments. While caregivers received modest wage  increases every year from the state based on the Consumer Price Index, the county hadn’t increased its portion since 2023, according to IHSS worker and SEIU 2015 union member Natascha Walker.

“It’s not what we put out there to begin with, considering the disparity between … professional caregiving,” Walker told San José Spotlight. “Do we wish it was more on the check? Absolutely, especially with the rise in costs with everything. It’s just horrible what’s going on.”

A recent poll of IHSS workers in the county conducted by SEIU 2015 showed nearly 62% of home aid workers struggling to keep up with housing costs. Nearly 53% rely on food stamps or make regular trips to the food pantry, and 78% of workers have multiple jobs to make ends meet.

The county is facing its own economic headwinds as the federal spending bill, known as H.R.1, slashed funding from social safety net services and created a $1 billion annual deficit in the county that required it to slash services and tighten its belt.

Another part of the IHSS contract caps the number of workers who can enroll in the county’s health insurance, the Valley Health Plan, to 15,800 workers. It also slightly increases out of pocket premiums from $25 a month to $41 or $57, depending on the plan.

There were roughly 15,540 workers enrolled in health insurance as of last month, less than half of the total number of home aid workers in the county, according to data provided from Public Authority Services, which serves as the employer of record for IHSS workers.

Although the number of workers enrolled in the county’s health insurance hasn’t reached the cap, disability rights advocate Michele Mashburn said the limit is still concerning given how many people are losing Medi-Cal coverage and marketplace insurance costs have skyrocketed after enhanced government subsidies ended last year.

“The cap sets a dangerous precedent, especially at a time when so many people are struggling because their marketplace insurance or their spouse’s insurance program is becoming prohibitively too expensive for them to pay,” Mashburn told San José Spotlight.

Despite a tough budget year at the state and local level, the IHSS program was spared cuts from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s earlier proposal that would have jeopardized care for people like Mashburn. The final state budget, passed in June, rejected the cuts that would have shifted more of the cost burden onto counties.

Ultimately, Walker and Mashburn said there needs to be greater systemwide changes to the program, including better training for workers in addition to higher pay, for it to be more sustainable and attract quality workers.

“How do I get quality care is the question that I constantly grapple with,” Mashburn said. “In reality, for another person who is struggling to survive in Santa Clara County, it is almost impossible to not have a stressed out worker in addition to my own life stress because they’re dealing with similar issues with affording rent, groceries, bills, gas, their car insurance, affording car repairs.”

Contact Joyce Chu at [email protected] or @joyce_speaks on X.