The Experiences of Workers Hired Under Consumer Direction in ...

Arkansas to permit a consumer to hire a full-time worker.) In contrast, agency workers usuallywould have cared for more than one person and may have worked full-time or at least enoughhours to be eligible for benefits. Furthermore, small employers (such as the consumers in thisprogram) rarely can afford to provide benefits such as health insurance or retirement plans,whereas larger entities can negotiate more favorable rates and can spread the fixed costs of suchbenefits over more employees. Among those who did not live with the consumer, 58 percent ofagency workers, but only 6 percent of directly hired workers, were paid for their travel time.Without agency support, policymakers might be concerned that directly hired workerswould not be paid in a timely manner or might be paid less than they were owed. In fact,35 percent of directly hired workers did report that their pay had been delayed over the past twoweeks; however, only 7 percent reported ever being paid less than they were owed (not shown).Thus, the vast majority of directly hired workers eventually received all the pay they wereexpecting. (These questions were not asked of agency workers, as it was assumed that agenciesgenerally paid workers on time and correctly.)Despite receiving modest (and sometimes late) pay and almost no fringe benefits, about45 percent of directly hired workers reported being very satisfied with their wages and benefits;only 16 percent reported being dissatisfied. In contrast, 22 percent of agency workers reportedbeing very satisfied with their wages and fringe benefits, whereas 38 percent reported beingdissatisfied. Thus, although policymakers might be concerned that directly hired workers receiveinadequate wages and benefits, the workers themselves are fairly satisfied with theircompensation, especially in comparison with agency workers. The directly hired workers’higher level of satisfaction with their wages and fringe benefits is likely due in part to the factthat so many of them had been providing unpaid care; they are satisfied to be receiving evenmodest pay for work for which they had previously done for free. Also, the directly hired18