Latin America and the Caribbean will need approximately 12 million teachers, 3 million doctors and 8 million nurses by the year 2040. This is what Education and Health: The sectors of the future? , the second issue of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)’s The future of work in Latin America and the Caribbean series says in its projection of the demand for social sector professionals in 24 countries in the region.
“Our study shows that, even in the framework of the fourth industrial revolution, we can expect the number of teachers, doctors, and nurses in Latin America and the Caribbean to continue growing at great speed,” explains Marcelo Cabrol, manager of the IDB Social Sector. “Our methodology allows us to know that, for example, a third of the teachers that will be needed in 15 years, and almost two-thirds of the doctors and nurses, are people who have not yet begun their working life. Faced with this reality, the key is to ensure that these new professionals have the skills and training they need to be the teachers, doctors and nurses of the future,” says Cabrol.
The publication not only shows evidence that the income of teachers, doctors, and nurses in Latin America and the Caribbean has grown significantly in recent years but also that these professionals are more likely to receive a pension in old age than other professionals such as engineers, lawyers, journalists or accountants. In addition, women represent the majority of social sector workers, and the gender wage gap is substantially lower in these occupations than in others.
Education and health: The sectors of the future? is the second issue of the series The Future of Work in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Read and download the Education and health: The sectors of the future? study available in Spanish.
Original source: IDB
Published on 29 January 2019
