The document discusses trends in the healthcare industry in the United States. It notes that healthcare accounts for 18% of the US economy and demand for healthcare jobs is growing rapidly. Between 2010 and 2020, the number of healthcare jobs will increase from 10.1 million to 13.1 million. The document also highlights that most new healthcare jobs will require postsecondary education and there will be a need for workers to continuously update their skills and learning through their careers.

1. Healthcare
Anthony P. Carnevale, Nicole Smith, Artem Gulish,
Bennett H. Beach
June 21, 2012

2. Overview
• Healthcare accounts for 18 percent of the U.S.
economy, twice as high as in other countries
• Demand for postsecondary education in healthcare
professional and technical occupations is third fastest
growing after science, technology, engineering and
mathematics (STEM) and education

3. Demand
• Americans are living longer. Adults 75 to 84 use three
times as much healthcare as everyone else combined
• Due to the growing demand for services and low
productivity, the demand for healthcare services over
the next decade will grow nearly twice as fast as the
national economy

4. Demand (cont.)
• Between 2010 and 2020, healthcare occupations will
increase from 10.1 million to 13.1 million jobs
• There will be 5.6 million healthcare job openings
between 2010 and 2020

5. Labor Force
• There are two labor markets in healthcare: high-skill,
high-wage healthcare professional and technical and
low-skill, low-wage healthcare support jobs
• Healthcare professional and technical jobs—especially
doctors and nurses—are responsible for large wage
gains in healthcare during the 1990s

6. Labor Force
• More than 70 percent of healthcare support workers
make less than $30,000 per year

7. Labor Force (cont.)
• The gaps that exists between the supply of nurses by
education level continues to rise

8. Skills Required
• Healthcare professional and technical jobs demand
postsecondary training and advanced degrees, while
support jobs demand high school and some college
• 82 percent of 5.6 million new healthcare jobs (4.6
million) will require postsecondary education and
training

9. Trend
• Upskilling is growing fast, especially in nursing
• Rising Bachelor’s degree requirements hinder
minorities from securing nursing employment
• Healthcare has 22 percent foreign born workers
compared to 13 percent of all workers nationally

10. Conclusion
• Healthcare will continue to grow fast and provide
some of the best-paying jobs in the nation—but the
people in these jobs will increasingly require higher
levels of education to enter the field and continuous
life-time learning and training once they are part of
the industry

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See the full report at: cew.georgetown.edu/healthcare/