Table 1: Wyoming Industries and Average Monthly Employment Change from 1990 to 1996

	90-91		91-92		92-93		93-94		94-95		95-96		90-96
SIC Code and Title	Emp	%	Emp	%	Emp	%	Emp	%	Emp	%	Emp	%	Emp	%
Total, All Industries	4,559	2.4%	2,678	1.4%	4,621	2.3%	6,868	3.4%	2,786	1.3%	1,482	0.7%	22,994	12.1%
80 Health Services	386	2.8%	290	2.1%	445	3.1%	639	4.3%	816	5.3%	-135	-0.8%	2,441	17.9%
801 Offices & Clinics Medical Drs	19	1.1%	36	2.1%	38	2.1%	70	3.9%	154	8.1%	125	6.1%	441	25.5%
802 Offices & Clinics of Dentists	30	3.3%	19	2.0%	29	3.0%	23	2.4%	47	4.7%	12	1.1%	160	17.6%
803 Offices of Osteopathic Phys.	-6	-13.5%	10	26.2%	10	20.6%	-6	-11.0%	-7	-13.9%	-10	-23.2%	-10	-22.6%
804 Offices Othr Hlth Practitioners	114	28.1%	50	9.6%	-12	-2.1%	79	14.2%	407	63.8%	-341	-32.6%	298	73.1%
805 Nursing & Personal Care Fac.	79	3.5%	13	0.5%	54	2.2%	210	8.6%	17	0.7%	-18	-0.7%	356	15.5%
806 Hospitals	-22	-0.3%	230	3.0%	157	2.0%	54	0.7%	87	1.1%	-6	-0.1%	500	6.6%
807 Medical & Dental Labs	23	14.4%	13	7.2%	21	11.2%	18	8.3%	17	7.1%	-2	-0.6%	90	57.2%
808 Home Health Care Services	97	40.1%	-121	-35.7%	98	45.1%	100	31.5%	34	8.1%	85	18.8%	292	121.0%
809 Hlth & Allied Services, NEC	52	19.4%	41	12.9%	51	14.1%	91	22.0%	57	11.2%	23	4.1%	315	117.3%
83 Social Services	-835	-16.2%	12	0.3%	361	8.3%	369	7.9%	218	4.3%	269	5.1%	394	7.6%
832 Indiv. & Family Services	-840	-39.2%	-112	-8.6%	91	7.6%	82	6.4%	97	7.1%	-41	-2.8%	-723	-33.8%
833 Job Training & Rel. Services	302	50.0%	220	24.3%	208	18.5%	114	8.5%	60	4.1%	39	2.6%	942	156.0%
835 Child Day Care Services	61	6.1%	99	9.4%	3	0.3%	10	0.9%	-6	-0.5%	226	19.6%	393	39.8%
836 Residential Care	-388	-32.0%	-201	-24.4%	-2	-0.4%	116	18.7%	56	7.6%	70	8.8%	-349	-28.8%
839 Social Services, NEC	30	14.1%	6	2.4%	62	24.9%	47	15.2%	11	3.0%	-25	-6.8%	131	61.3%

Table 3: Selected Chronic Conditions per 1,000 Persons by Age and Gender, United States, 1994

Adams PF, Marano MA. Current estimates from the National Health Interview Survey, 1994. National Center for Health Statistics. Vital Health Stat 10 (193), pp 83-4. 1995.

Employment in both Health and Social Services is related to the health care of the elderly for long-term physical and mental illnesses. For example, an illustration of the need for individual and family services (SIC 832), doctors’ offices and clinics (SIC 801), nursing and personal care facilities (SIC 805) and residential treatment centers (SIC 836) is reflected by the statistics on Alzheimer’s disease. This disease is ranked ninth in the cause of death among Americans aged 65 and over⁷. In some cases, death is preceded by a long-term illness in which the patient is unable to care for himself/herself and in which there may be a need for family counseling to cope with the stresses of the illness. As the population of “baby boomers” continues to age, there is likely to be an increase in the demand for Health and Social Services for a mental and physical disease such as Alzheimer’s.

If you translate this percentage into dollars, the expenditure was $988.5 billion. Of that amount, public funds constituted $532.1 billion and private funds constituted $456.4 billion. In an article entitled “In Search of an Elusive Truth—How Much do Americans Spend on Health Care?” by David Betson, Notre Dame University (1996), the author states: “Clearly the single most important variable that determines the level of out-of-pocket expenses is age: the older one is, the more one spends.” As the American population ages, the Health Services industry is experiencing some major changes to contain costs such as increased utilization of managed care plans and greater emphasis on preventive medicine. Health Services providers seek to maintain the quality of health care while pursuing cost effectiveness.

What are the wages for some occupations in these industries and how do they influence attracting employees into these fields? For Health Services, the Wyoming statewide hourly mean (average) wage is $12.60 per hour. The source for the data on wages is the 1996 Wyoming Wage Survey⁹. For Social Services, the Wyoming statewide hourly mean wage is $8.00 per hour. Based on these averages, the wages for Social Services is only 63 percent of the wages for Health Services. Also, there is a considerable range of wages within each industry. The highest average wage for Health Services is $20.30 per hour for professional/paraprofessional/technical; the lowest average wage is $5.80 per hour for services. In Social Services, the highest average wage is $14.30 per hour for professional/paraprofessional/technical, and the lowest average wage is $5.90 per hour for services. Since both of these industries are projected to grow, what kind of employees can they attract for Health and Social Services occupations at the lower ranges of pay? If these wages represent entry-level wages with an opportunity for career advancement, some future employees with interests in the medical/social services may be attracted to work in these occupations. However, since the occupations such as nursing aide and registered nurse require different levels of training and licensing, the lower wages may reflect the long term job prospects of some employees.

In an article on health insurance coverage in 1996, Robert Bennefield states: “An estimated 41.7 million people in the United States or 15.6 percent were without health insurance coverage during the entire 1996 calendar year¹⁰." He draws a connection between poverty and lack of health insurance: “The poor are more likely not to have coverage. Despite the existence of programs such as Medicaid and Medicare, 30.8 percent of the poor or 11.3 million had no health insurance of any kind during 1996.” He further states that “employment is the leading source of health insurance coverage.” The lack of health insurance directly affects the costs of providing Health and Social Services to people in poverty.

There is a connection between poverty and the lack of health insurance: “the poor are more likely not to have coverage.” There is another connection between age and expenditures: “the older you are, the more you spend.” It will be interesting to follow the shifts toward managing costs and maintaining quality in the years ahead. As more Americans live longer, the Health and Social Services industries will be challenged to treat the physical and mental diseases associated with longevity. The dynamic changes in these industries offer exciting possibilities for applications of research to reduce costs and maintain the quality of Health and Social Services care for all Wyoming residents.

Nancy Brennan is an Economist, specializing in the Employment Statistics (ES-202) program with Research & Planning.

Fay Walther is an Economist, specializing in Labor Market Information (LMI) projects with Research & Planning.

1 The Health Services industry is Standard Industrial Code (SIC) 80 and the Social Services industry is SIC 83.

2 Research & Planning Division, Department of Employment, Industry & Occupational Projections, pending publication.

3 Research & Planning Division, Department of Employment, Wyoming 1994—What does the Future have in store for Wyoming’s Labor Market?.

4 U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Monthly Labor Review, November 1995.

5 U.S. Industry & Trade Outlook ‘98.

6 Arthritis and Rheumatism, May 1998.

7 Monthly Vital Statistics Report, Vol. 46, No.1, Supplement 2.

8 United States, Health, 1996.

9 Research & Planning, Department of Employment, Wyoming Wage Survey, 1996.

10 Economics and Statistics Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, Current Population Reports.

This article was published in the Wyoming Labor Force Trends June 1998 issue.

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