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Help caregivers win Social Security and Medicare

El Dorado County IHSS provider Roxanne Bender together with her husband and son.
El Dorado County IHSS provider Roxanne Bender together with her husband and son.


Take action
today to win justice for thousands of In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) providers and home care workers across the country who are ineligible for Social Security and Medicare.

Right now, the wages of home care workers who care for a child or spouse are not eligible for Federal Insurance Contribution Act (FICA) deductions, which is how other workers pay into these programs. “It’s wrong that I can’t pay into Social Security and Medicare,” said David Haskins who provides IHSS care for his spouse. “I will probably never be able to retire. What am I supposed to do?”

Benefits like Social Security and Medicare are there to ensure that after a lifetime of hard work, we can retire with dignity and a basic level of financial stability. To deny parent and spouse providers these basic rights leaves many caregivers unable to retire or plan for our family’s future.

“It feels like my back is against the wall,” said IHSS provider LeTrese Lofton from Riverside County. “I want to retire when I’m 65 and let my other children take over providing care for my daughter, but I won’t be able to afford it.”

But you can help caregivers win Social Security and Medicare!

Senator Christopher Murphy from Connecticut recently introduced S.2721 – Social Security Caregiver Credit Act of 2016 in the United States Senate. The bill recognizes the unfair exclusion of parent and spouse providers from these benefits – and puts us on the path to fixing this injustice. UDW supports this bill and the positive impact it will have on caregivers. And we are calling on U.S. Senators from California to do the same.

Join fellow UDW caregivers in telling Senator Dianne Feinstein and Senator Barbara Boxer to stand with us and value the work of caregivers by cosponsoring the Social Security Credit Act of 2016.

Click here to call your senator today, or text ‘SSI’ to ‘237263’.

We have a lot of work to do to win justice for spouse and parent providers, both at the federal and state level. Right now, IHSS providers who care for their spouse or child are also ineligible for unemployment insurance and paid family leave. This year, UDW is sponsoring California Assembly Bill 1930, which will begin the process of educating California lawmakers about the economic instability and financial insecurity caused by exclusion from retirement and safety net benefits.

Let’s all do our part to win this fight, because together, we can win justice for spouse and parent home care workers.