Read em and weep … unless you are a government worker.
Here’s the story. If you work for state or local government you have a better chance of receiving a solid benefits package paid for by taxpayers who rarely, if ever, have a total compensation package anywhere near yours in value.
How does that happen you may ask? It’s quite simple, government is not concerned with what it can afford or pay for and no one is accountable, no one. Witness the unfunded benefit liabilities in New Jersey, Illinois, California and many other states.
In the case of these benefits there is another factor; public employee unions and their alliance with politicians seeking union worker votes, almost exclusively democratic politicians. Nowhere is the buying of votes more visible than when it comes to public employee unions. And yet, nobody seems to care, do you care?
What possible justification can there be for government workers to have a total compensation package significantly higher (about 41% higher on average) than private sector workers footing the bill?
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS IN THE UNITED STATES – MARCH 2016
The participation rate for employer-sponsored medical care benefits for civilian workers was 52 percent in March 2016, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The participation rate was 49 percent for private industry workers and 73 percent for state and local government workers.
The participation rate for employer-sponsored retirement benefits, which include defined benefit and defined contribution plans, was 54 percent for civilian workers. The participation rate was 49 percent for private industry workers and 81 percent for state and local government workers. Differences in retirement plan participation are influenced by the type of plan offered.
Fifty-seven percent of civilian workers participated in employer-sponsored life insurance benefits. The participation rate for private industry workers was 54 percent and 78 percent for state and local government workers.
The share of single coverage medical care premiums paid by employees averaged 19 percent for civilian workers, 21 percent for private industry workers, and 13 percent for state and local government workers.
These data are from the National Compensation Survey (NCS), which provides comprehensive measures of compensation cost levels and trends and also provides benefits incidence data on the percentage of workers with access to and participating in employer-provided benefit plans.
The survey covers a broad range of benefits including holidays and vacations, sick leave, life insurance, and detailed provisions for health care and retirement plans. Archived NCS news releases are available at http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ncspubs.htm. Table A. Selected employer-sponsored benefits: Access, participation and take-up rates1, March 2016
Source: Employee Benefits in the United States news release text
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