With our life expectancy being much higher than it used to be, we are now seeing an increased need for health care for the elderly. This has lead to an increased requirement for staff such as nurses, surgeons and other medical professionals. The recession has seen a number of people being laid off but the health care industry has increased its number of staff. By 2018 it is thought that there will be a further 4 million people working in the health care sector. On the other hand, it is expected that the number of people working in the manufacturing industry will have decreased by 1.2 million over the same period.
Over the last two years the health care sector has accounted for 22 percent of employment growth and this was almost twice as much for manufacturing. So while this is bad news for those in the manufacturing industry, it is good news for anyone who wants to pursue a career in health care. And it is also good news for the economy as a whole.
According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, around one of every four Americans will be sixty five or older by the year 2050. Chief investment strategist, Jim Paulsen from Wells Capital Management in Minneapolis stated that “The demographic story for health care remains good and will get better”. However, those who want to invest in health care should beware.
President Obama’s health care plan is to be looked at by the Supreme Court in March 2012 and this law requires all Americans to buy health insurance or pay a fine. However, Republican candidates for the White House have already stated that even if the law is passed, they will abolish it if they win the election. What this means is that the health care sector will face uncertainty for some time so anyone interested in buying stocks or shares would need to be very careful.
