Teenagers’ Plans to Pursue Careers in Care Work in 30 OECD Countries, 2000-2022

Care work’s social and economic importance has garnered increasing attention, especially since the outbreak of COVID-19. While understanding teenagers’ interests is critical for addressing staffing shortages in these gender-segregated and under-valued fields, research on career plans has yet to focus on careers in care work occupations. The study we have conducted is original in several respects: it is the first research on plans to pursue careers in care work; it is the first comparative international paper in this area, and it is the first to examine trends over time.

This paper explores teenagers’ career plans in professional care work through overtime and cross-country comparisons of 30 OECD countries. Following England, Budig, and Folbre, we define care work as occupations where workers provide face-to-face services that enhance the recipient’s health, skills, or emotional capabilities

Our analysis draws on data from the OECD’s Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), collected from over 1 million teenagers between 2000 and 2022. We find that there is considerable interest in care work, with about one-third of PISA respondents expressing interest in these careers. Across OECD nations, we observe a significant rise in interest in health-related care work, while interest in education-focused careers has steadily declined. Gender dynamics are pronounced—female teenagers are more likely to want to pursue care careers, with minimal change in male interest over the two decades.

Interestingly, neither salary differences nor employment opportunities explain the cross-country variation in how much care work appeals to teenagers. Moreover, while shortages reported are in less skilled areas of care work, youth focus their ambitions exclusively on highly skilled care work. In our discussion section we consider the implications of these findings for the future supply and valuation of care work.