Health Care Workforce Pay Gaps: COVID-19 Modestly Compressed Wage Disparities, 2015-24

Area of Science:

• Health Economics
• Labor Market Trends

Background:

• The health care sector is a significant part of the economy.
• Understanding wage trends within health care professions is crucial for workforce planning and policy.
• Previous research has indicated wage disparities across different health care roles.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze median earnings trends for health care workers from 2015 to 2024.
• To identify specific occupational groups within health care that experienced the most significant wage growth.
• To compare earnings trends between the lowest-earning and higher-earning health care occupations.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the Current Population Survey (CPS).
• Analyzed median earnings trends over the 2015-2024 period.
• Segmented analysis by occupational earnings levels within health care.

Main Results:

• Health care workers in the lowest-earning occupations experienced median earnings growth of approximately 13% during 2015-2024.
• This growth rate was significantly higher compared to workers in other health care occupations.
• The findings suggest a potential compression of wage differentials within the health care workforce.

Conclusions:

• The lowest-paid health care workers have experienced substantial real wage gains.
• Policy interventions or market forces may be contributing to improved earnings at the lower end of the health care wage scale.
• Further research is needed to explore the drivers behind this trend and its long-term implications for the health care workforce.