Health care occupations offer pathway for lesser-educated workers

According to a Brookings Institution report, the number of people with less than a bachelor's degree working in 10 specific health care occupations increased from 46 percent to 39 percent between 2000 to 2011. 

USA Today: Health Care Jobs Lift Less-Educated Workers
The boom in health care jobs is skewed toward positions requiring less education, providing lower-paid workers a potential pathway to better careers, a new Brookings Institution report says. From 2000 to 2011, the number of workers in 10 large health care occupations who had less than a bachelor's degree surged 46 percent, vs. 39 percent growth for all health care jobs, the study says (Davidson, 7/24).

St. Louis Public Radio: The Number Of Health Care Workers With Low Education Levels Is Rising – But Their Wages Aren't
About half of the health care workers in the St. Louis area have less than a bachelor's degree. The number of health care workers with lower levels of education is on the rise here but for the most part, their salaries are not. That puts the St. Louis region in line with the national trend, according to a new report released on Thursday by the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program. The analysis relied on U.S. census data from the 100 largest metro areas, including St. Louis. The researchers found that most health care workers with an associate degree or less are employed in one of ten occupations, so the report focused on those (LaCapra, 7/23).