nursing shortage articles and testimony

At the same time, the supply of workers to fill these jobs will remain virtually unchanged. Between 2000 and 2030, the total working-age population persons aged 18 to 64 is expected to grow by only 16 percent.

The number of women aged 20 to 54 - the traditional pool of nurse aides - will increase by only 9 percent from 2000 to 2030. The potential mismatch between future supply and demand for caregivers is illustrated by the change in the expected ratio of potential care providers to potential care recipients. As shown in figure 2, the ratio of the working-aged population, aged 18 to 64, to the population over age 85 will decline from 39.5 workers for each person 85 and older in 2000 to 22.1 in 2030 and 14.8 in 2040. The ratio of women aged 20 to 54 to the population age 85 and older will decline even more dramatically, from 16.1 in 2000 to 8.5 in 2030 and 5.7 in 2040.

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