Read below to learn about the care crisis in Illinois and the solutions our lawmakers can enact this year.

The Care Crisis

• In six years, we’re going to need to fill more than a quarter million more long-term care jobs to keep up with the growth of our state’s aging population. 
• The number of adults over 65 in our state is set to increase by 40% by 2035 to nearly 2.9 million Illinoisans.
• More and more, care is falling onto unpaid family members while the systems meant to support us fall apart: 16.5% of Illinois residents are providing unpaid care.

We all deserve access to essential care services, no matter where we live, what we look like, or how much we’re paid. 

• Illinois seniors deserve to age with dignity in their own homes. 
• Illinois families deserve reliable child care and at-home care for their loved ones. 
• And every person in Illinois deserves access to healthcare they can actually afford. 

Right now, mega corporations and the ultra-rich are dodging $7 billion per year in Illinois taxes, starving our state of critical funding for care services and creating a crisis that hurts working families. 

• Giant corporations like Amazon, Google, and Meta and the ultra-wealthy are avoiding billions in Illinois taxes through loopholes and giveaways. 
• When giant corporations and billionaires don’t pay what they owe, they drain public funding for care services that we all need: leaving families footing the bill and scrambling to find care while the rich get richer. 
• Everyday people across Illinois can’t get the essential care services they need, community hospitals are dangerously understaffed, care workers are forced to leave the industry for higher-paying jobs, and families are left with no good options. 
• Waitlists for care services are growing, especially as our population ages.

It’s not right. It’s not sustainable. And it’s getting worse. When underpaid, burned out care workers leave to find different jobs it means: 

• More and more older adults have to go without vital care.
• Child care centers turn families away, and in some cases, close their doors entirely.
• Parents are forced to leave their jobs because they can’t find affordable child care.

This care crisis is hitting working families when they’re already struggling financially. 

• Families are stretched to the limit between gas, food, rent and more. 
• Federal cuts to safety net programs like SNAP and Medicaid – programs that make sure kids, pregnant women and families have the food and care they need – are squeezing family budgets even tighter. 

The solution is clear: Illinois lawmakers need to make giant corporations and the ultra-wealthy pay what they owe in taxes so Illinois can fund care – including $2 raises for home care workers – in the budget.

• If Illinois state leaders make giant corporations and the ultra-rich pay what they owe in taxes, we can generate more than $7 billion a year to fund the essential services we all need like home care, child care, and healthcare.
• That’s just $2 an hour to ensure the people who take care of our loved ones have the support they need to make ends meet and can stay in the industry and thrive.
• Funding home care has a great return on investment for the entire community. 
• Studies show that seniors who receive home care services are less likely to visit an emergency room or be hospitalized: reducing strain on emergency rooms and saving seniors from thousands of dollars in unnecessary hospital bills.