How much do I pay a live-in caregiver?

Finding an excellent live-in caregiver for a senior care patient is like matchmaking. The former should be able to provide adequate support to the needs of the latter. The elders and their families must feel they’re trustworthy. On the other side, the clients need to offer reasonable payment for their care providers. 

The cost of employing a live-in caregiver

It may be an obvious or overlooked thing, but live-in caregivers can help seniors consider options other than staying in assisted living facilities. They equally make injured care recipients recover from their wounds at the comfort of their homes. On the other hand, it is a give-and-take connection as clients compensate their care providers.

The average salary rate for a live-in caregiver is around $17 hourly, $690 weekly, or $35,700 yearly. Across the United States, the salary range is $221 to $1,173 per week, according to ZipRecruiter.com. It is close to the 2018 Genworth Cost of Care Survey, which imparted that the value of live-in caregiving starts at $1,000 monthly.

For some valid points, clients can assume some states pay higher for the live-in home care providers than the others. In New York and Connecticut, the salary range exceeds $49,000. It is considered a generous annual salary across the USA. By far, New Jersey tops others with about $55,660 salary per year for live-in caregivers, according to Zippia.com.

Other factors that increase the costs

The above numbers are, of course, rough estimates only. And there other determinants that influence the salary rate other than the location basis. Here some factors you should know:  

The hours to serve. There is a difference between 24-hour and live-in caregiving, although both run round-the-clock service in a day. In 24-hour time the client doesn’t need to provide a room or accommodation. It entails two to three alternating carers to serve day and night. In this manner, each of them has eight to 12 hours only to stay with the client’s house. 

On the other hand, the live-in caregiver resides in the client’s house to provide care every waking hour possible. In this manner, it involves additional costs of board and lodging.

Level of expertise in caregiving. No doubt, all care providers can work hard to do their duties for their clients. It is just that in some particular cases, the level of expertise matters for the care recipients. For instance, it is logical to find in-house assistants capable of administering the treatments properly for patients with severe injuries. The catastrophic injury, alone, may employ apparatus and nursing plans for the fast track recovery. 

What more if the client is suffering from a chronic illness like Alzheimer’s disease or seizure disorder? The care providers should gain the training and other skills for this job. A care recipient who has Alzheimer’s disease, for instance, doesn’t only forget things and people around them. They also may develop behaviors such as depression and aggressiveness. If a live-in caregiver has untrained to handle the patient’s condition and other needs, this may put the latter at risk.