Q&A: “What do I need to know about live-in caregiver jobs?”

Have you ever considered getting into live-in caregiving? How much do you already know about the career path? While you might already know that live-in senior caregivers are hired to assist seniors with not only their personal care but also their household management, other facts may surprise you.

For instance, the term “live-in” is a little misleading as professional senior caregivers do not move in and live with the senior permanently. Instead, they go to the senior’s house and stay overnight for two to three nights in a row, then return to their own homes. Not too shabby, huh?

Important Live-in Caregiver FAQs

What Is the Live-in Caregiver Job Description? In addition to assisting the senior with “activities of daily living,” you will assist with household duties such as laundry, maintaining a clean household, managing a shopping list and meal preparation.

What Is the Live-in Caregiver Schedule? A live-in senior caregiver will stay with the senior client for two to three days at a time and then return to their own home. The schedule is booked by the day, instead of by the hour.

What Is the Live-in Caregiver Pay? Live-in caregivers are paid a daily stipend rate, which they qualify for as long as they are able to have a few hours of downtime in the evening and sleep at night. It is acceptable for the live-in caregiver to need to get up in the night to assist the senior, but they are primarily there as extra security for the senior for any nightly needs. Once a senior has acute care needs and requires a caregiver to be up at night, they will need a nighttime caregiver to rotate with a daytime caregiver – this usually only occurs during end-of-life care for seniors who are receiving hospice care.

Live-in care pay ranges from $80 to $180 per day, depending on the level of care needed. Added benefits are the inclusion of food and any entertainment shared with the client.

What Are the Advantages of Becoming a Live-in Caregiver? Live-in caregivers have the advantage of earning a week’s pay in a few days of work and not needing to commute back and forth each day to a job location. In addition, many live-in caregivers enjoy the relationship they build with the client and when matched with the right client, many times the caregiver is paid for companionship as much as for hands-on caregiving duties.

Caring individuals can learn to be a live-in caregiver and be trained by their senior home care agency employer, as long as they are able to pass a criminal background check.  Professional senior caregiver training certification is available in a 10-hour online course.

Caregiverlist.com is the nation’s online destination dedicated to connecting seniors with quality senior care choices. Caregiverlist.com helps seniors and their loved ones define care needs, understand the many caregiving options and costs and connect to senior home care agencies that meet Caregiverlist.com’s checklist of quality standards. Caregiverlist.com is also a leading caregiving career and recruitment resource. Visit www.Caregiverlist.com.