Would you change someone's diapers for 12 bucks an hour?

Didn't think so (you probably wouldn't do it for $24 either). Turns out that there's a shortage of younger health care workers willing to care for the elderly and disabled, just as the first of the baby boomers are approaching 70. As reported by the WSJ, one-fifth of direct-care workers are at least 55 and preparing for retirement. Along with not having enough retirement savings, here's another long-term problem involving the nation's elderly population that's getting little attention, both from government and the media. From the Journal:

Nursing aides say they often are being asked to work double shifts at short-staffed nursing homes. Indeed Inc., which runs an employment website, says the number of U.S. nursing-home-aide jobs advertised in December was 10,922, up 120% from a year earlier. Demand will continue to grow. The number of Americans 65 years and older is projected to reach 73 million in 2030, up from 40 million in 2010. Serving that growing population will require five million direct-care workers in 2020, up 48% from the 2010 level, according to U.S. government projections.

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Nursing aides, mostly women, do some of the toughest work in nursing homes--hoisting residents out of bed and changing their diapers. They are among the residents' closest companions, spending more time with them than relatives typically do, and are often first to spot a turn for the worse that requires medical attention. Their rate of occupational injury, usually related to back or muscle strains, is higher than construction and factory workers. Aides are sometimes kicked, bitten or spat upon by residents suffering from dementia.