According to data from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) released on Tuesday, full-time employees in health and care professions earned an average of 4,048 euros gross without special payments in April 2024. This was 1,219 euros more than ten years ago, on the occasion of the International Day of Carers on May 12. In April 2014, full-time employees in health and care professions earned an average of 2,829 euros gross. According to the earnings survey, there were slightly over 1.7 million people working full-time in health and care professions in April 2024, with more than two-thirds (68%) of them being women.
Destatis reported that the earnings increase in health and care professions was greater than in many other professional groups. One reason for this could be the introduction and development of the statutory minimum wage since 2015, which benefited employees in health and care more than in other professions.
In the overall economy, full-time employees earned an average of 3,978 euros gross in April 2024, according to the Federal Agency. This was 988 euros more than ten years ago. In better paid engineering and aviation professions, the earnings increase over the past ten years was similar to that in health and care professions, with 1,218 euros and 1,157 euros, respectively. In contrast, earnings in transport, logistics and transportation professions increased by only 739 euros in the same period, while earnings in crafts and metal and electrical professions increased by 899 euros. The median earnings mentioned above represent the middle of the distribution of full-time employees and divide them into two equal halves: half earn more and half earn less than the median.
Destatis further reported that over the past ten years, health and care professions, particularly those in elderly care, have seen a significant increase in earnings. Full-time employees in elderly care earned an average of 4,228 euros gross in April 2024, which was 1,612 euros more than ten years ago. Employees in health and nursing care earned 4,310 euros gross in April 2024, which was 1,260 euros more than ten years ago. For comparison, earnings on the level of professionals in the overall economy increased by 884 euros over the same period, reaching 3,580 euros gross per month.