[Population Reference Bureau (PRB)] In June 2000, the Big Three U.S. automakers - General Motors, Ford, and DaimlerChrysler - announced they would offer domestic partner health care benefits to their more than 400,000 employees. Giving nonmarried partners access to the same benefits as spouses marks a growing trend across a wide variety of industries in both the public and private sectors in the United States. In the past year, according to the Human Rights Campaign, the number of Fortune 500 companies offering domestic partner benefits increased from 70 to 102.