PNHP

Economic vulnerability among US female health care workers

Potential Impact of a $15-per-Hour Minimum Wage

By Kathryn Elena Woolhandler Himmelstein, M.D., M.S.Ed. and Atheendar S. Venkataramani, M.D., Ph.D.
American Journal of Public Health, December 20, 2018 (published online ahead of print)

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% 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.

(Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print December 20, 2018: e1ā€“e8. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2018.304801)

https://ajph.aphapublications.org…

Comment:

By Don McCanne, M.D.

On Christmas Eve, regardless of your religious affiliations, it seems appropriate to consider what Jesus might have had to say about the economic vulnerability of US female health care workers. The lead author of this study, heir and namesake of the co-founders of PNHP, has helped us by providing objective data and an analysis of the plight of female health care workers.

At a time that our political leadership has decided to furlough workers just in time for Christmas, it seems that we should give more thought as to what is wrong and how we can find the moral pathway forward.

Really.

Peace.

Stay informed! Visit www.pnhp.org/qotd to sign up for daily email updates.