Are Health Workers Underpaid?

There is a clear need for a firm statistical base describing the levels and rates of change of wages for various types of manpower in hospitals and other health settings, and for analytical studies designed to explain the causes and consequences of wage variation in the health industry. This paper is intended to fill the first need, and provide data for the second. With the rich detail provided in the public use samples of the 1960 and 1970 Censuses of Population, it is possible to calculate hourly earnings rates for all allied health personnel classified by occupation, sex, schooling, geographical location, and many other characteristics. Furthermore, it is possible to compare these earnings with those of workers with similar characteristics in other non-farm industries.