Full Citation
Title: The Significance of Immigrants to Sustaining the Healthcare and Social Service Workforce
Citation Type: Conference Paper
Publication Year: 2016
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Abstract: The 2016 Presidential campaigns have led to divisive political discourse on the topic of immigration, particularly of Latinos. One aspect of this debate that is often overlooked is the importance of immigrants to the workforce that provides health and social services to an aging population. In large part due to the Baby Boomer generational cohort, the number of older adults requiring care continues to increase. At the same time, fertility rates in the U.S. remain low. Utilizing data from the U.S. Census Bureaus decennial census and American Community Survey (ACS), change in the composition of the healthcare and social service workforce was tracked over a 25-year period (1990-2014). The number of workers across a range of health and social service occupations grew from 9.7 million in 1990 to 18.2 million in 2014. Only three-quarters (73.0%) of this growth, however, was due to the U.S.-born population; immigrant workers made up a substantial portion of the growth of this workforce. Latinos made up 11.2% of this workforce in 2014, up from 5.4% in 1990. The proportion of the workforce that is Latino immigrants was relatively low in 2014 (3.9%), but this figure was up 267% from its 1990 level. Given low fertility and rapid increases in the aging population, the reliance of the healthcare and social service workforces on immigrants is likely to increase, suggesting that targeting immigrants with these skills and providing training for existing migrants may be useful tools to supporting an aging population.
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Authors: Waterman, G; Gassoumis, Zach
Conference Name: 69th Annual Scientific Meeting "New Lens on Aging: Changing Attitudes, Expanding Possibilities"
Publisher Location: New Orleans, LA
Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Aging and Retirement, Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Migration and Immigration, Poverty and Welfare, Race and Ethnicity
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