Employees Want Life Insurance Benefits At Work, But They're Being Cut

The number of employers offering life insurance for their employees has dropped 23 percent since 2006, according to new research from LIMRA.

Yet just as employer-sponsored life insurance is becoming less common, workers are recognizing the importance of the benefit. Six in 10 workers said life insurance is an important or very important benefit, regardless of whether they currently have it available to them through their employer.

Employer-sponsored life insurance was called by employees one of the top five most important benefits, the report said. These benefits also included dental, medical, paid time off and retirement benefits.

More Americans rely on group life insurance than individual life insurance (108 million versus 102 million) for family protection, according to 2016 LIMRA research findings.

The majority of American households without group or individual life insurance said they would have immediate or near immediate trouble paying for living expenses if the primary wage earner died. Only half of households with group life insurance said the same.

Life insurance is not the only benefit that employers have curtailed since the Great Recession.

The study, “Hidden Currents: Under-the-Surface Changes in the Employee Benefits Market,” showed benefit penetration rates are still below pre-recession figures. While the economy has improved, employers remain cautious with benefit package offerings. This is likely because of legislation under the Affordable Care Act that increases the average annual premium for employer-sponsored health insurance, increasing employers’ overall benefit policies.

The improved economy has seemingly not changed employers’ benefit strategy. On average, employers offered seven benefits to their employees in 2017 (down from eight in 2014), according to LIMRA. Only one in 10 employers who currently offer insurance benefits plan to add a benefit in the next 18 months.

LIMRA conducted the survey in September 2017, polling 1,497 U.S. private employers that had 10 or more employees and had been in business for at least three years.