In years past, many people believed that blue-collar workers in lower- to middle-income jobs were the primary buyers of voluntary products. Today, brokers who are active in the voluntary space know that's no longer true. Yes, blue-collar workers still buy voluntary products, but so do white-collar workers. In fact, the ownership percentages across occupational categories are very similar today and the lowest ownership percentages are in the unskilled labor category — a blue-collar market.

The following table provides the percentage of employees owing at least one voluntary product by occupational category. The chart shows the percent that own and don't own voluntary within each occupational category. In other words, each row adds up to 100 percent. So, among administrative or clerical workers, half own at least one voluntary product, but among laborers just 38 percent own at least one.

After surveying more than 770 employees in businesses with 10 or more employees, we found that voluntary has very broad appeal today. Ownership percentages across ages are very similar except in the youngest age group (see sidebar, right). The percentages also are similar across household income categories.