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Nursing before and after COVID-19: outflows, inflows and self-employment

Author

Listed:
  • Guyonne Kalb

    (Melbourne Institute: Applied Economic & Social Research, The University of Melbourne)

  • Jordy Meekes

    (Department of Economics, Leiden University, Netherlands)

Abstract

We study nurses’ labour dynamics in light of continuing nurse shortages and the COVID-19 pandemic. Using Dutch monthly administrative microdata, all nursing-qualified persons observed in January 2016 and/or in January 2020 are compared and followed for one year before and three years after both baseline months. Compared to the 2016 Cohort, women and men in the 2020 Cohort who were employed in the healthcare sector at baseline were 0.3 and 1 percentage point more likely to have left employment; and, conditional on still being employed, 0.8 and 1.2 percentage points more likely to have left healthcare employment after three years. The 2020 Cohort women and men were also 1 and 1.7 percentage points more likely to transition from salaried employment to self-employment, and they reduced working hours by 0.6% and 1.5% more by December 2022. Except during COVID outbreaks, there is no higher inflow into healthcare employment by nursing-qualified women and men who were not employed in healthcare at baseline. Finally, other healthcare professionals fared better, with similar healthcare sector retention rates in 2019-2022 compared with 2015-2018. Overall, the pandemic accelerated nurse shortages through reduced retention and increased self-employment, and its impact is still felt at the end of 2022.

Suggested Citation

  • Guyonne Kalb & Jordy Meekes, 2024. "Nursing before and after COVID-19: outflows, inflows and self-employment," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2024n01, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    • Handle: RePEc:iae:iaewps:wp2024n01
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jordy Meekes & Wolter H J Hassink & Guyonne Kalb, 2023. "Essential work and emergency childcare: identifying gender differences in COVID-19 effects on labour demand and supply," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 75(2), pages 393-417.
    2. Elliott, Robert F. & Ma, Ada H.Y. & Scott, Anthony & Bell, David & Roberts, Elizabeth, 2007. "Geographically differentiated pay in the labour market for nurses," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 190-212, January.
    3. Philipp Kugler, 2022. "The role of wage beliefs in the decision to become a nurse," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(1), pages 94-111, January.
    4. Rowena Crawford & Richard Disney & Carl Emmerson, 2015. "The short run elasticity of National Health Service nurses’ labour supply in Great Britain," IFS Working Papers W15/04, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    5. Jan Erik Askildsen & Badi H. Baltagi & Tor Helge Holmås, 2003. "Wage policy in the health care sector: a panel data analysis of nurses' labour supply," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 12(9), pages 705-719, September.
    6. Michael A. Shields, 2004. "Addressing nurse shortages: what can policy makers learn from the econometric evidence on nurse labour supply?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 114(499), pages 464-498, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    nurses; labour dynamics; self-employment; healthcare; gender; COVID-19;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J20 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - General
    • J44 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Professional Labor Markets and Occupations
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion

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