Publications on Wages & Non-wage Compensation

Many have suggested that reducing or eliminating the tax exclusion of employer-sponsored health insurance (ESI) could generate significant additional tax revenue to fund expansions in health insurance coverage. In this paper, we focus on two specific policy design elements: (1) a cap, or dollar limit, on the amount of employer-sponsored health insurance premiums excluded from taxable income; and (2) an index that determines how this cap might grow over time. Our analysis shows that limiting the tax exclusion would provide substantial funding for health reform and mitigate the huge inequities built into the current treatment of employer premiums.

This brief examines the size and characteristics of the low-wage workforce and whether low-wage workers experience wage growth. We define low-wage workers as workers whose hourly wage rates are so low that even if they worked full-time, full-year their annual earnings would fall below the poverty line for a family of four. This wage rate is $8.63 in 2001, equivalent to $10.50 in 2008. Almost one-third of all workers ages 16 to 64 are low-wage workers in 2001. From 2001 to 2003, we find some evidence that low-wage workers are moving to higher wage jobs. But, the majority of low-wage workers either remain in low-wage jobs or are not working at all.

This report uses the Health Insurance Policy Simulation Model (HIPSM) to quantify the intermediate and longer-term implications if America’s health care system is not significantly overhauled. Under a range of economic scenarios, the analysis shows an increasing strain on business owners and their employees over the next decade if reform is not enacted. There would be a dramatic decline in the number of people insured through employers, and millions more could become uninsured. There would be large growth in Medicaid/CHIP enrollment and spending, and increased spending on uncompensated health care. Middle-income working families would be the most affected.

Career change is common at older ages. This report shows that 27 percent of workers employed full time at age 51 to 55 change occupations by age 65 to 69. More than one-third of older job leavers separate because of job layoffs or health problems, including nearly half of those who did not complete high school. Workers who change careers typically move into jobs that pay less than their previous jobs and are less likely to offer pension and health benefits. However, new careers tend to offer more flexible employment arrangements, less stressful working conditions, and fewer managerial responsibilities.

The stock market gained 35 percent between March 9, 2009 and May 5, 2009. For those who held on to their equities, these gains reversed some of the massive losses experienced since September 2007. This fact sheet examines the impact of the ongoing economic turmoil on older households and presents estimates of the retirement account losses to date.