A new study published by the University of Washington found that wage gaps in the U.S. healthcare sector have narrowed across various demographics since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The analysis highlights that healthcare aides and assistants saw significant wage increases, with earnings rising by 13.6% from 2015 to 2024.
Advanced practice providers, who generally earn higher salaries, saw 8.3% wage growth in the same time frame, the study said.
In contrast, registered nurses and technicians saw smaller increases of 3.8% and 1.1%, respectively.
“In a way, the silver lining for the pandemic was that it created more job opportunities within the system for low-wage workers,” Bianca Frogner, senior author of the study and director of the Center for Health Workforce Studies at the UW School of Medicine said.
The study also found that Black healthcare workers saw wage increases of 15.5% and Hispanic workers saw a 10.2% wage increase, which were faster than those seen among white and Asian workers.
Women’s wages grew by 8.8%, compared to 2.1% for men.
Despite these gains, researchers cautioned that some wage increases are not keeping up with inflation or rising costs of living and policy support is needed to maintain a stable, diverse, and equitable healthcare workforce.