Economic Vulnerability Among US Female Health Care Workers: Potential Impact of a $15-per-Hour Minimum Wage

Abstract

Objectives. To investigate racial/ethnic and gender inequities in the compensation and benefits of US health care workers and assess the potential impact of a $15-per-hour minimum wage on their economic well-being. Methods. Using the 2017 Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the Current Population Survey, we compared earnings, insurance coverage, public benefits usage, and occupational distribution of male and female health care workers of different races/ethnicities. We modeled the impact of raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour with different scenarios for labor demand. Results. Of female health care workers, 34.9% of earned less than $15 per hour. Nearly half of Black and Latina female health care workers earned less than $15 per hour, and more than 10% lacked health insurance. A total of 1.7 million female health care workers and their children lived in poverty. Raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour would reduce poverty rates among female health care workers by 27.1% to 50.3%. Conclusions. Many US female health care workers, particularly women of color, suffer economic privation and lack health insurance. Achieving economic, gender, and racial/ethnic justice will require significant changes to the compensation structure of health care.

Patient care aides: Differences in healthcare coverage, health‐related behaviors, and health outcomes in a low‐wage workforce by healthcare setting

“…Some research has shown improved healthcare access and some health metrics following the implementation of the ACA, particularly in states that expanded Medicaid . However, the results of other studies highlight residual inequities in access to care due to structural issues ranging from the reluctance of some providers to accept Medicaid patients and inability to afford coinsurance, particularly among the working poor, to lack of transportation, childcare, and employer‐provided time off for preventive care visits . The results of alternate analyses adjusting for income in the current study suggest that increased wages among the patient care workforce could ameliorate the high prevalence of some adverse health metrics observed among these groups, but that other types of intervention would be needed to address residual differences in outcomes, particularly those stemming from work activities, rather than work arrangements, such as arthritis.…”

Economic influences on population health in the United States: Toward policymaking driven by data and evidence

“…These jobs have disappeared, in part, because of technological advances that have allowed firms to automate many tasks previously performed by workers [14] and also because of increases in foreign trade that have led to large declines in employment within industries and areas most exposed to competition with foreign firms [13,15]. The growth of low-wage healthcare industry jobs has buffered some areas against the loss of manufacturing employment opportunities but, overall, has done little to counter the worsening economic outcomes among low-income and less-educated workers that have been caused by automation and trade [16,17].…”

Addressing the caste system in U.S. healthcare in the era of COVID-19

“…As of 2017, people of color were concentrated in the lowest wage healthcare positions. Among them, 34% of non-white healthcare workers earned less than $15 per hour and earned less on average than their white colleagues [3,4]. Among female healthcare workers and their children, 1.7 million lived below the poverty line and many lacked healthcare coverage and/or relied on public assistance to survive [3,4].…”