The Obama administration put off a plan to ensure that home-care workers in 35 states receive at least the minimum wage and benefits.

An old categorization of direct-care workers — nursing assistants, health and personal care aides, many who are Black, Latino or immigrants — means that employers are exempt from paying workers the minimum wage and benefits. The Labor Department’s new categorization was supposed to take effect on Jan. 1, 2015. However, many home-care workers may now have to live another year making less than $7.25 an hour, working more than 40 hours a week without overtime pay or benefits. In 2009, more than half of all personal care aides earned less than $7.54 per hour.

Because of the country’s ever-aging population, the industry is growing. Home care workers now outnumber childcare workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employers of caregivers for children and domestic workers are subject to minimum wage laws.