Is there a financial incentive to immigrate? Examining of the health worker salary gap between India and popular destination countries

Table 1 Registered nurse salaries from selected countries for three levels of work experience

		India^e	UK	USAⁱ	Canada^j	UAE^k
0–3 years	NCU^a	727,904	21,909^f	55,969	42,412	40,501
	NCU^a	856,524	21,909^f	55,969	42,412	175,970
	Rupee^b	727,904	1,809,280	3,734,640	2,139,294	735,777
	Rupee^b	856,524	1,809,280	3,734,640	2,139,294	3,196,827
	US ($)^c	10,909	27,115	55,969	32,060	11,027
	US ($)^c	12,836	27,115	55,969	32,060	47,909
	PPP ($)^d	30,643	31,299	55,969	33,395	8347
	PPP ($)^d	36,058	31,299	55,969	33,395	36,268
	% PPP ($) gap over India		2.1	82.7	9.0	− 72.8
	% PPP ($) gap over India		− 13.2	55.2	− 7.4	0.01
5–10 years	NCU	955,782	26,565^g	63,249	65,325	59,573
	NCU	1,042,646	35,577	63,249	65,325	198,822
	Rupee	955,782	2,193,780	4,220,412	3,295,043	1,082,256
	Rupee	1,042,646	2,938,006	4,220,412	3,295,043	3,611,977
	US ($)	14,324	32,877	63,249	49,381	16,219
	US ($)	15,626	44,030	63,249	49,381	54,131
	PPP ($)	40,237	37,950	63,249	51,437	12,278
	PPP ($)	43,893	50,827	63,249	51,437	16,569
	% PPP ($) gap over India		− 5.7	57.2	27.8	− 69.5
	% PPP ($) gap over India		15.8	44.1	17.2	− 62.3
10–20+ years	NCU	1,243,470	31,696^h	70,116	78,000	39,732
	NCU	1,613,305	69,186	70,116	78,000	407,724
	Rupee	1,243,470	2,617,507	4,678,626	3,934,380	721,807
	Rupee	1,613,305	5,713,491	4,678,626	3,934,380	7,407,076
	US ($)	18,635	39,227	70,116	58,962	10,817
	US ($)	24,178	85,625	70,116	58,962	111,006
	PPP ($)	52,348	45,280	70,116	61,417	8189
	PPP ($)	67,917	98,837	70,116	61,417	84,032
	% PPP ($) gap over India		− 13.5	33.9	17.3	− 84.4
	% PPP ($) gap over India		45.5	3.2	9.6	23.7

^aSalary in own national currency unit. All at 2017 figures
^bAuthor calculations. Indian Rupees using average 2017 to date market rate [44]
^cAuthor calculations. US dollars using average 2017 to date market rate [44]
^dAuthor calculations. International dollar (purchasing power parity, PPP) [12]
^eX-cities (at 0 years) and Z-cities (at 3 years) and at 5–10 years and at 20–25 years [3]
^fCorresponds to band 4, point 15 [8, 17]
^gBand 6 [8, 17]
^hBand 7 to 8c [8, 17]. Directors of nursing can earn 50% more than this [45]
ⁱ Variation is large: US$41,000–US$70,000. (New York, California, Boston and Seattle can be 30–50% above national average. Indianapolis and St Louis are 8 and 14% below average respectively [46]
^jBased on stated and averaged hourly rates at 1950 h per annum for nurses working in Ontario. Canadian nurses start at step 1, mid-career (5–10 years is step 3) with some regional variation especially due to remote region allowances [47]
^k Generally Dubai offer some of the higher rates and are used here [48] but there is some variation across the UAE but generally lower than those found in Dubai [49]

ISSN: 1478-4491