Growth in for-profit nursing home jobs outpaces nonprofits, report finds

While the nation’s overall nonprofit sector posted a 10-year record of job growth from 2000 to 2010, achieving an average annual growth rate of 2.1 percent during that time, nonprofit nursing homes lost significant market share to for-profits, according to a new Johns Hopkins University report.

For-profit nursing home providers experienced job growth by 2.3 percent from 2000 to 2010, while nonprofits experienced job growth by only 1.3 percent, the report found.

“The continued loss of nonprofit market share is a cause for real concern, particularly since it results from the unequal playing field nonprofits confront in accessing capital and their resistance to slashing employee benefits or skimping on the quality of services,” said Larry Minnix, president and CEO of LeadingAge, in a release.

Nursing home jobs made up 11 percent of all nonprofit employment in 45 states and D.C. during 2010, according to the report.

At 10.7 million workers as of 2010, nonprofit organizations employ the third largest workforce among U.S. industries, behind only retail trade and manufacturing, according to the report.

Data were drawn from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, a data collection program carried out regularly by state governments throughout the country in cooperation with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics as part of the U.S. Unemployment Insurance Program.