Black women are more overrepresented in health-care jobs than any other demographic groups, and are concentrated in its lowest-paid and most dangerous roles — disparities that are products of structural racism and sexism, according to a new study published this month in the journal Health Affairs.
Black women make up nearly 7 percent of the U.S. labor force, but nearly 14 percent of the health-care workforce, according to the study. Within health care, the study notes, Black women are most likely to work in the long-term care sector, currently making up 23 percent of that labor force, and as licensed practical nurses or aides, constituting 25 percent of those workers. These roles “are characterized by low wages, lack of benefits, and hazardous working conditions,” according to the study.
As co-author Janette Dill, an associate professor in the division of health policy and management at the University of Minnesota, put it: “They are taking care of peoples’ bodies, and feeding them, and bathing them, and taking people to the bathroom — it’s very hard physical labor.”
Shantonia Jackson, a 52-year-old certified nursing assistant at City View Multicare Center in Cicero, Ill., is in charge of caring for anywhere from 30 to 60 residents at a time, she said. As a result, “there’s not enough time in the day” to give all of them the care they deserve, said Jackson, who is Black.
“It’s like nobody is caring for the people. … It’s like I’m a number,” said Jackson, who also serves as...
Rep. Eric Swalwell broke his silence on allegations of sexual misconduct Tuesday evening after a campaign event in Sacramento, saying social media reports of inappropriate behavior with female staf...