Among low-wage workers, three-fourths do not have employer-sponsored health care, and nearly 40 percent have no health insurance from any source, according to a new report from the Center from Economic and Policy Research and the Georgetown University Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor.
For the past three decades, employer-sponsored health coverage has declined among all workers, but the steepest fall has been for low-wage workers, the report finds. In 1979, 43 percent of low-wage workers had employer-sponsored health insurance, but by 2010, which is the most recent data, only 26 percent had employer-sponsored health insurance.
Other health insurance sources have not filled the void of declining employer-provided coverage, the report reveals. In 1979, 16 percent of low-wage workers were without any type of health insurance. That figure jumped to 39 percent in 2010.
Recommended For You
The report also predicts the effect the Affordable Care Act will have on future coverage rates for low-wage workers. By calculating outside projections and the experience of Massachusetts, which operates a state system similar to ACA, the report estimates that full implementation of ACA would reduce noncoverage rates for low-wage workers to under 20 percent from the current level of near 40 percent.
"Low-wage workers face enormous challenges obtaining health insurance for themselves and their families," says John Schmitt, senior economist at CEPR and author of the report. "The Affordable Care Act could have done more, but complete implementation will greatly expand coverage for low-wage workers."
According to the report, low-wage workers are the bottom 20 percent by hourly pay, which is defined by data from the Current Population Survey to calculate coverage rates from all health insurance sources, including employers, other family members' employers, directly purchased policies, Medicaid and other public sources.
"Skyrocketing inequality and stagnating wages create an imperative need for research on the causes — and solutions — for economic polarization," says Jennifer Luff, research director of the Kalmanovitz Initiative. "Raising standards for low-wage workers through programs like affordable health insurance is critical to reversing these trends."
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
