Taking the Long View: Understanding the Rate of Second Job Holding Among Long-Term Care Workers

Abstract

We analyze the 2004, 2008, and 2014 longitudinal panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) to compare the percentage of long-term care (LTC) workers who held a second job in an LTC setting or in any industry at the first panel observation versus over a longer time period. We find that around 5% to 7% of LTC workers held a second job in another LTC setting in their first panel observation. However, we found that 20% to 30% of LTC workers held a second job in LTC during the survey period of 3 to 4 years, and 30% to 40% of LTC workers held a second job in any industry during the survey period. Our findings suggest that second job holding is widespread among LTC workers. Future research should focus on how facilities and organizations can reduce the spread of infectious disease among workers who are working in multiple settings.