Chart Detail
Employer-provided health insurance coverage, by demographic and wage group, 1979–2010
Health insurance coverage (%) | Change | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Group* | 1979 | 1989 | 1995 | 2000 | 2007 | 2010 | 1979–1989 | 1989–2000 | 2000–2007 | 2007–2010 | 1979–2010 |
All workers | 69.0% | 61.5% | 58.5% | 58.9% | 55.0% | 53.1% | -7.4 | -2.7 | -3.9 | -1.9 | -15.9 |
Gender | |||||||||||
Men | 75.4% | 66.8% | 62.6% | 63.2% | 58.4% | 55.8% | -8.7 | -3.6 | -4.8 | -2.6 | -19.6 |
Women | 59.4 | 54.9 | 53.3 | 53.6 | 51.8 | 49.9 | -4.5 | -1.3 | -1.8 | -1.9 | -9.5 |
Race | |||||||||||
White | 70.3% | 64.0% | 61.7% | 62.7% | 59.6% | 57.8% | -6.3 | -1.2 | -3.2 | -1.8 | -12.5 |
Black | 63.1 | 56.3 | 53.0 | 55.4 | 52.4 | 49.5 | -6.8 | -0.9 | -3.0 | -2.9 | -13.6 |
Hispanic | 60.4 | 46.0 | 42.1 | 41.8 | 37.3 | 36.3 | -14.3 | -4.3 | -4.5 | -1.0 | -24.1 |
Education | |||||||||||
High school | 69.6% | 61.2% | 56.3% | 56.2% | 51.1% | 47.9% | -8.4 | -5.0 | -5.0 | -3.2 | -21.6 |
College | 79.6 | 75.0 | 72.1 | 71.3 | 68.8 | 66.4 | -4.6 | -3.8 | -2.5 | -2.4 | -13.3 |
Wage fifth | |||||||||||
Bottom | 37.9% | 26.4% | 26.0% | 27.4% | 24.3% | 20.5% | -11.5 | 1.0 | -3.0 | -3.8 | -17.4 |
Second | 60.5 | 51.7 | 49.5 | 50.9 | 45.9 | 43.6 | -8.8 | -0.8 | -5.0 | -2.3 | -16.9 |
Middle | 74.7 | 67.5 | 62.9 | 63.9 | 60.3 | 59.4 | -7.2 | -3.6 | -3.6 | -0.9 | -15.3 |
Fourth | 83.5 | 78.0 | 74.0 | 73.7 | 69.8 | 68.8 | -5.5 | -4.3 | -3.9 | -1.0 | -14.6 |
Top | 89.5 | 84.7 | 81.5 | 79.9 | 76.9 | 76.1 | -4.7 | -4.8 | -3.0 | -0.8 | -13.4 |
* Private-sector wage and salary workers age 18–64 who worked at least 20 hours per week and 26 weeks per year
Source: Authors' analysis of Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement microdata

Updated May 14, 2012
Documentation and methodology
Table is based on tabulations of CPS-ASEC data samples of private wage-and-salary earners ages 18–64 who worked at least 20 hours per week and 26 weeks per year. This sample is chosen to focus on those with regular employment. Coverage is defined as being included in an employer-provided plan for which the employer paid for at least some of the coverage. As with other CPS microdata analyses presented in the book, race/ethnicity categories are mutually exclusive (i.e., white non-Hispanic, black non-Hispanic, and Hispanic any race).