Little Change to Work-Life Benefits

Posted by: Jena McGregor on May 21

The news out today from the Families and Work Institute regarding their first major study of employers in 10 years isn’t brimming with news, after all: The study “reveals that there has been surprising stability in the practices, policies, programs and benefits provided by a nationally representative group of US employers with 50 or more employees.” Most of the 80 benefit options, ranging from flex time to maternity leave, showed little in the way of increases or decreases since 1998.

There were a few exceptions, however: Health care and retirement. Employees are being asked to contribute larger co-pays to health care premiums. And there’s been a steep decline in that once standard of retirement benefits: In 1998, 48% of the employers offered pension plans. In 2008, just 29% do.

I don’t know about you, but I find it surprising that more changes haven’t been made, particularly in the realm of child care, an area where the US falls woefully behind other countries. “We find no changes in the ten ways we investigated in which employers provide child care assistance,” the report’s study noted. Ten years? No changes?

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