Employers are the major source of health insurance coverage in the United States. However, not all American workers are equally likely to receive employer-paid health insurance. A worker's socio-demographic characteristics, worker resources, and labor market location are related to receiving employer-paid health insurance. Given the link between employment and health insurance, changes in the U.S. economy may affect the likelihood of receiving employer-paid health insurance for some workers. Since the early I98Os, many U.S. industries have transformed the nature and organization of their productive activities. The objective of this research is to examine how women, race and ethnic minorities, and the working poor have fared given changes in labor market conditions that affect employer-paid health insurance. The research has three specific aims. First, to investigate whether the probability of receiving employer-paid health insurance changed for women workers, race and ethnic minority workers, and the working poor between 1988 and 1997. Second, to see whether variation in worker resources and labor market location explain gender, race, ethnic, and poverty status differences in health insurance benefits. Finally, to determine whether economic changes have differentially affected U.S. workers probability of receiving employer-paid health insurance by the gender, race, ethnicity, and poverty status of workers. The objective of the study will be achieved through an analysis of data from the Current Population Surveys and Current Business Patterns surveys. The probability of receiving employer-paid health insurance will be modeled as an outcome of socio-demographic characteristics, worker resources, and labor market location, using a bivariate probit analysis with sample selection for employment status. The multivariate analyses will include tests for differences in the effects of labor market characteristics on receipt of employer-paid health insurance by gender, race, ethnicity, and poverty status.
