The foreign born in the American healthcare workforce: Trends in this century’s first decade

Abstract

This study describes the native and foreign born in US healthcare in the first decade of this century. Immigrant women are more likely than natives to be employed in long term care where they are most concentrated among professional practitioners and lesser skilled direct care workers. The foreign born are similar to natives in their average age, education and the dominance of women. They differ in being more likely to reside in metropolitan areas and in central cities. The foreign born earn more than natives and this appears to be both significant and inexplicable by way of differences in experience or education.