Technical Contact: USDL: 09-0872
(202) 691-6199 NCSinfo@bls.gov
Media Contact: FOR RELEASE: 10:00 A.M. (EDT)
(202) 691-5902 TUESDAY, JULY 28, 2009
Internet address:
http://www.bls.gov/ebs
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS IN THE UNITED STATES, MARCH 2009
While about 70 percent of workers in private industry had access to employer provided medical care
benefits in March 2009, only 25 percent of the lowest wage earners -- those with average hourly wages in
the lowest 10 percent of all private industry wages -- had such access, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of
the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. By contrast, nearly all workers with hourly wages in the
highest 10 percent of all private industry wages had access to medical care benefits. (See table 2.) A
worker with access to medical care benefits is defined as having an employer-provided medical plan available
for use, regardless of the worker’s decision to enroll or participate in the plan. These data are from the
National Compensation Survey (NCS), which provides comprehensive measures of occupation earnings, compensation
cost trends, and incidence and provisions of employee benefit plans. Farm and private household workers,
the self-employed, and Federal government workers are excluded from the survey.
The following are additional findings:
* Medical care benefits were available to 71 percent of private industry workers, compared with 88
percent among State and local government workers. About half of private industry workers participated
in a plan, less than the 73 percent of State and local government workers. (See table 2.)
* Employers paid 82 percent of the cost of premiums for single coverage and 71 percent of the cost for
family coverage, for workers participating in employer sponsored medical plans. The employer share for
single coverage was greater in State and local government (90 percent) than in private industry (80 percent).
For family coverage, the employer share of premiums was similar for private industry and State and local
government, 70 and 73 percent, respectively. (See tables 3 and 4.)
* Among full-time State and local government workers, virtually all (99 percent) had access to retirement
and medical care benefits. Of full-time workers in private industry, only 76 percent had access to
retirement benefits and 86 percent to medical care. Part-time workers had less access to these benefits in
both private industry and in State and local government; about 40 percent of part-time workers had access
to retirement benefits and about 25 percent had access to medical care benefits. (See tables 1 and 2.)
* Sixty-seven percent of private industry employees had access to retirement benefits, compared with
90 percent of State and local government employees. Eighty-six percent of State and local government
employees participated in a retirement plan, a significantly greater percentage than for private industry
workers, at 51 percent. (See table 1.) The NCS has broadened the definition of access to retirement benefits.
For more detail on this change, see the article in Compensation and Working Conditions Online at
http://www.bls.gov/opub/cwc/cm20081219ar01p1.htm.
* Paid sick leave was available to approximately two-thirds of workers. Nearly 90 percent of State and
local government workers had access, significantly greater than the approximately 60 percent of private
industry workers. (See table 6.)
The incidence of employee benefits varied by worker characteristics and by establishment characteristics. For
example, private industry workers in service occupations have less access to medical care benefits (46 percent) than
private industry management, professional, and related workers (86 percent). Also, patterns of incidence varied
between private industry and State and local government. State and local government workers in service occupations
have less access to medical care than in management, professional, and related occupations (81 and 90 percent,
respectively). The disparity between these two occupational groups is larger in private industry (46 and 86 percent,
respectively).
Access to paid holidays and paid vacation leave was greater for professional and related workers in private
industry (85 and 83 percent, respectively) than in State and local government (51 and 37 percent, respectively). This
is due in part to the fact that in State and local government, teachers make up a larger percent of the professional
and related occupations than in private industry. Teachers and other employees in educational services are commonly
employed on the basis of 9-month contracts, and often do not receive formal paid holiday and vacation benefits.
(See Technical Note for more information on this topic.)
More information can be obtained by calling (202) 691-6199, sending e-mail to NCSinfo@bls.gov, or by visiting
the BLS Internet site, http://www.bls.gov/ncs/home.htm. Also, BLS Regional Information offices, which are listed
on the Internet site, http://www.bls.gov/bls/regncon.htm, are available to answer questions.
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More information will be published later this summer. Included will be March 2009 data for civilian, private
industry, and State and local government workers on the incidence and provisions of health care benefits, retirement
benefits, life insurance, short-term and long-term disability benefits, paid holidays and vacations, and other
selected benefits. These results will be found on the BLS Web site http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ebs.
In addition, starting in the fall of 2009, new editions of Program Perspectives will be published, and these
publications will feature the latest benefits data. Program Perspectives brings together employee benefits information
from various National Compensation Survey publications into one convenient and easy-to-read publication. For the
latest publication, see: http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ebs.
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