The health care economy as a regional employment driver

Abstract

"This collected edition deals with the regional employment relevance of the health economy. In the introductory section, characteristic features of health care markets, fundamental institutional structures of the German health care system, and problems concerning the evaluation of health services are described. Health care has been upward revaluated in Germany to a growth-intensive branch with cross-sector effects on the economy that are documented in health economy-related national accounts. Finally, theories of regional concentration and growth of health care services and industries are examined. The main part of this analysis concerns employment in the health care sector using the layer model that differentiates between health services, retail services and the health industry.<br> The second section determines the relevance of health economy employment in the German Federal States and districts. For statistical purposes, sectoral and occupational employment changes between 2008 and 2013 are analysed. Structural employee aspects such as age and gender, changes in employment contracts (for instance, full-time or part-time contracts), marginal employment and temporary agency work are explored. A main topic relates to the qualification and levels of requirements that firms expect of employees in the health care sector. An important aspect of labour market analysis in the health care sector is the earnings of the employees: we examine in detail the wages of full-time employees in relation to the level of requirements at the workplace and differentiated by gender. After a complete regional survey of the employment situation in the health care sector, the reports for selected Federal States are presented. With reference to former Western Germany, health employment studies cover Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hessen, North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein. Where the new Federal States are concerned, reports are provided for Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, and Saxony. These reports partly complement the analyses by covering further specific aspects of the labour market.<br> The final section focuses on the quality of working conditions in the care sector. It begins by describing different concepts of the quality of working conditions and the particular features of the caring work, before presenting the results of field studies which examine working conditions in caring institutions. Finally, at the end, suggestions are made with regard to achieving better working conditions in this sector." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Cite article

Bogai, D., Thiele, G. & Wiethölter, D. (eds.) (2015): Die Gesundheitswirtschaft als regionaler Beschäftigungsmotor. (IAB-Bibliothek 355), Bielefeld: Bertelsmann, 461 p. DOI:10.3278/300887w