American Journal Of Public Health Podcast

This pod discusses a paper by Himmelstein and Venkataramani about the prevalence of low income and of poverty among female health care workers in the US and estimates the ability of a minimum wage of $15 to improve the condition of the currently 1.7 million female health care workers who live in poverty. My interviewees are: Kayty Himmelstein, one of the authors; Mandy Rae Hartz from the Healthcare Workers Council of the United Steel Workers; Henrie Treadwell who is with Community Voices in Atlanta; and Paul Leigh, who is a labor and health economist in Davis, California. Who are the health care workers? How prevalent are low wages and poverty among them? Is the culprit the health care industry or more generally gender and racial inequity? Finally, if the minimum wage was raised to $15 per hour, what would be the impact for health care workers, and also for US workers in general.