Category: Commentary
Rapid Job Growth, More Education Fail to Translate into Higher Wages for Health Care Workers
by Eileen Appelbaum , 02/14/2018
Health care, an important source of jobs in the US economy, accounts for nearly 13 percent of private sector employment. Unfortunately, despite rapid job growth in the sector, we’ve also seen wages of many healthcare workers in this critical area of our economy stagnate.
Demographic Trends in Healthcare Have Led to a More Diverse Workforce
by Eileen Appelbaum , 10/18/2017
Employment trends in hospitals and outpatient settings are consistent with the strategies of organizational restructuring that hospitals have undertaken. Hospitals continue to hire the largest share of workers, with employment rising from 5.25 million jobs in 2005 to 5.75 million in 2015 — a growth rate of almost 10 percent.
Workers Were Older and More Highly Educated in 2015 than in 2005; Wages Were Stagnant or Fell
by Eileen Appelbaum , 10/03/2017
Jobs in the two largest nonprofessional occupation groups ― medical technicians and health aides and assistants ― grew 17.2 percent and 20.0 percent respectively, and in 2015 the number of workers in these jobs reached 5.5 million.
Healthcare Wages Stagnant 2005–2015 for All Gender and Race/Ethnicity Groups
by Eileen Appelbaum , 09/20/2017
Examining wage trends in hospitals by gender and race/ethnicity we observe that the real median hourly wage of full-time, full-year workers increased for every demographic group over the decade. However, with the exception of white women and Asian/other women, the real wage increases came to less than one dollar an hour.
Black Women in Healthcare Face Declining Real Wages
by Eileen Appelbaum , 07/31/2017
The healthcare sector is one of the most important sources of jobs in the economy. It accounts for nearly 18 percent of GDP and almost 14 percent of private sector jobs. It is the only sector that consistently added jobs during the Great Recession.
Gender Wage Gaps in Health Care Occupations
by Eileen Appelbaum , 06/11/2019
A presentation by Dr. Eileen Appelbaum to the Industry Studies Association in Nashville, Tennessee, on May 31, 2019. A copy of the report is available upon request.