Medical care employment in the United States, 1968 to 1993
The importance of health sector jobs for African Americans and women
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11032236 |
|---|---|
| Authors | David U Himmelstein (0000-0002-2394-4915, Cambridge Hospital), J P Lewontin, Steffie Woolhandler (0000-0002-8965-1058) |
| Year | 1996 |
| Volume | 86 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 525-528 |
| Publication date | 1996-04-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Journal of Public Health (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0090-0036 • E-ISSN: 1541-0048 |
| Publisher | American Public Health Association (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.2105/ajph.86.4.525 |
| PMID | 8604783 |
| OpenAlex | W2044890489 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to elucidate the social and economic impact of health sector employment. METHODS: US medical care employment was analyzed for each year between 1968 and 1993, with data from the March Current Population Survey. RESULTS: Between 1968 and 1993, medical care employment grew from 4.32 million to 11.40 million persons, accounting for 5.7% of all jobs in 1968 and 8.4% in 1993. Today, one seventh of employed women work in medical care; they hold 78% of medical care jobs. One fifth of all employed African-American women work in medical care. African-Americans hold 15.5% of jobs in the health sector: they hold 24.1% of the jobs in nursing homes, 15.9% of the jobs in hospitals, but only 5.6% of the jobs in practitioners' offices. Hispanics constitute 6.4% of medical care employees. Real wages rose 25% to 50% between 1968 and 1993 for most health occupations. Wages of registered nurses rose 86%; physicians' incomes rose 22%. Wages of nursing home workers were far lower than those of comparable hospital workers, and the gap has widened. In 1993, 11.7% of all medical care workers lacked health insurance and 597 000 lived in poverty. CONCLUSIONS: Hospital cuts and the continuing neglect of long-term care exacerbate unemployment and poverty among women and African Americans
Economic growth · Economics · Environmental health · Health care · Political science · Diversity and Career in Medicine · Global Health Workforce Issues · Healthcare Policy and Management · Medicine · Gerontology
| Citations per year | 0.1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1997 - 2002 (6) |
| Highly cited | No |