Sunday, June 11, 2023 | 2 a.m.
When Chrystal Taylor left her job in early childhood education over a year ago to become a home care worker, she knew a pay downgrade was inevitable.
What she didn’t expect was having to choose between paying her electricity bill or getting food for her family each month.
The single mother lives with her own mom and three kids, all between the ages of 10 and 22 years old, two of whom are autistic. Taylor, 44, supports them all with a job in which she works about 27 hours a week and earns about $11 an hour.
“It’s a struggle trying to determine from paycheck to paycheck which bills are going to get paid, which one I have to wait on because I don’t have enough to pay what needs to get paid when it needs to get paid, based off of the amount that I get,” Taylor said. “We’re not treated properly for what they’re expecting us to do for other people.”
But with Gov. Joe Lombardo and the Nevada Legislature agreeing on a state budget last week, that’s about to change. Tucked into the legislation for Nevada’s estimated 13,000 home care workers is a minimum wage increase from around $11 to $16 an hour.
It’s the first raise in over a decade, according to officials with SEIU Local 1107, the union that represents home care, health care and public service workers in Nevada.
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