Our Second Report is Released!

Project: Job Mobility in Long-term Care

Although the long-term care (LTC) industry expects substantial growth in employment opportunities to meet the growing health care demands of aging Baby Boomers, the rate of exit from long-term care jobs is outpacing the rate of entry. This is a major finding of our report examining the demographics, socioeconomic status, and job mobility of workers by LTC sector and occupation.

In the HWRC report “Entry and Exit of Workers in Long-Term Care,” co-authors Bianca Frogner, PhD, of the University of Washington, and Joanne Spetz, PhD, professor at the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies and HWRC director found that LTC employs a high share of low-skilled workers, and that as of 2013, nearly all LTC workers were women. Minorities represented about 40 percent of the workforce, which was higher than the national average of 21 percent of the overall U.S. labor force. A large share of LTC workers lives in poverty, and many who leave LTC jobs become unemployed or leave the labor force.

The authors propose that future research explore the longer-term employment paths of LTC workers and recommend policymakers consider investments in education and training to ensure an adequately trained workforce that remains in the LTC industry.