Personal support workers (PSWs) have long wrestled with housing insecurity in expensive Canadian cities, but the pandemic has worsened the situation for many, pushing some into homelessness and leaving others teetering on the brink, Reuters reported.
At the heart of their struggle are low wages and fewer hours amid pandemic restrictions that do not allow them to work at multiple care homes. The problem is most acute among part-time workers at for-profit care homes.
Some are paid close to minimum wage, meaning they earn barely enough even with full-time hours to skirt the poverty level for a single person with no dependents. A recent survey found 67 per cent of PSWs reported earning less take-home pay now than before the pandemic.
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