Some 1.7 million female healthcare workers live in poverty, according to a study by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the researchers compared the earnings, insurance coverage, public benefits usage and occupational distribution of male and female healthcare workers of different races and ethnicities. They found that the median household income of men in healthcare was 25% higher than that of women working in healthcare. Nearly 35% of female healthcare workers, and half of black and Latina female healthcare workers, earned less than $15 per hour. More than 10% relied on Medicaid for health insurance and 7% lacked health insurance altogether, according to the study, published in the American Journal of Public Health.
The researchers then modeled the impact of raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour, and found that doing so would reduce the number of female healthcare workers living in poverty by as much as 50%.
From the February 01, 2019 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News
