Based on a nationally representative sample of young women who ever worked between 1968 and 1995 (N = 2,594), findings of a study on the availability of traditional and family-friendly employee benefits are presented. The highest concentrations (70% to 95%) of women held jobs with traditional benefits such as medical coverage, life insurance, and retirement pensions, while the proportions holding jobs with family-friendly benefits such as paid and unpaid maternity leave and flexible work hours were about half that or less. In any given survey year, between 9% and 11% of working women held jobs without benefits, while, over their work histories, 39% had held at least one job without benefits. The effects of 10 correlates on the number of years working women held jobs with specific employee benefits were also assessed. Correlates included age; highest grade completed; number of employers; number of children ever had; race; and years of full-time employment, marriage, public assistance, private-sector employment, and union membership. A positive relationship was found between full-time employment and nearly all employee benefits, while number of children had no effect on all but one benefit, flexible menu of benefits. Most significant, race was found to affect whether working women ever held jobs with certain employee benefits, as well as the number of years they were likely to hold such jobs. Despite longer full-time work histories, Black women were less likely than White women to have jobs with job-related training programs and with several family-friendly benefits. Implications for retaining principles of affirmative action, workplace strategies, and other policies are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BakerM. (1997). Parental benefit policies and the gendered division of labor. Social Service Review, 71, 51–71.
2.
BelmanD., & HeywoodJ. S. (1991). Direct and indirect effects of unionization and government employment on fringe benefit provision. Journal of Labor Research, 12(2), 111–121.
3.
BucciM. (1991). Growth of employer-sponsored group life insurance. Monthly Labor Review, 114(10), 25–32.
4.
CaputoR. K. (in press). Trends and correlates of coresidency among Black and White grandmothers and their grandchildren: A panel study, 1967–1992. In HayslipB., & Goldberg-GlenR. S. (Eds.), Grandparents raising grandchildren: Theoretical, empirical, and clinical perspectives.New York: Springer Publishing Company.
5.
CaputoR. K. (1995). Gender and race: Employment opportunity and the American economy, 1969–1991. Families in Society, 76, 239–247.
6.
CaputoR. K. (1997). Women as volunteers and activists. Nonprofit and voluntary sector quarterly, 26, 156–174.
7.
CaputoR. K. (1999a). Advantage White and male, disadvantage Black and female: Income inequality, economic well-being, and economic mobility among families in a youth cohort, 1979–1993.Danbury, CT: Rutledge Books, Inc.
8.
CaputoR. K. (1999b). Age-condensed and age-gapped families: Coresidency with elderly parents and relatives in a mature women's cohort, 1967–1992. Marriage and Family Review, 29(1), 77–95.
9.
CaputoR. K., & CianniM. (1997). The job training experiences of Black and White women, 1970–1991. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 8, 197–217.
10.
CaputoR. K., & DolinskyA. (1998). Determinants of health care insurance coverage among Afro-American and Anglo-American women. International Association of Management Journal, 10(2), 33–40.
11.
CattanP. (1998). The effect of working wives on the incidence of poverty. Monthly Labor Review, 121(3), 22–29.
12.
Center for Human Resource Research. (1997). NLS of Young Women's Users' Guide 1997.Columbus, OH: Ohio State University.
13.
Center for Human Resource Research. (1999). NLS Handbook 1999.Columbus, OH: Ohio State University.
14.
Commission on Leave, 104th Congress. (1996). A workable balance: Report to Congress on family and medical leave policies.Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
15.
CooleyC. A. (1990). 1989 employee benefits address family concerns. Monthly Labor Review, 113(6), 60–63.
16.
Economic Report of the President. (1998). Table B-39, p. 327. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
17.
Employee Benefit Research Institute. (1994). EBRI Issue Briefs.Washington, DC: Employee Benefit Research Institute.
18.
Employee Benefit Research Institute. (1998). EBRI Report, #451.Washington, DC: Employee Benefit Research Institute.
19.
EpsteinC. F. (1999). The part-time solution and the part-time problem. Dissent, 46(2), 96–98.
20.
EstesS. B., & GlassJ. L. (1996). Job changes following childbirth: Are women trading compensation for family-responsive work conditions?Work and Occupations, 23, 405–436.
21.
FerberM. A., O'FarrellB., & AllenL. R. (Eds.). (1991). Work and family: Policies for a changing workforce.Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
22.
FreidmanE. (1991). The uninsured: From dilemma to crisis. JAMA, 265, 2491–2495.
23.
GalinskyE., BondJ. T., & FriedmanD. E. (1996). The role of employers in addressing the needs of employed parents. Journal of Social Issues, 52(3), 111–136.
24.
GlassJ., & FujimotoT. (1995). Employer characteristics and the provision of family responsive policies. Work and Occupations, 22, 380–411.
25.
HatcherL., & StepanskiE. J. (1994). A step-by-step approach to using the SAS system for univariate and multivariate statistics.Cary, NC: SAS Institute, Inc.
26.
HaygheH. V. (1990). Family members in the work force. Monthly Labor Review, 113(3), 14–19.
27.
HaygheH. V. (1993). Working wives' contributions to family incomes. Monthly Labor Review, 116(8), 39–43.
28.
HerschJ., & White-MeansS. (1993). Employer-sponsored health and pension benefits and the gender/race wage gap. Social Science Quarterly, 74, 851–866.
29.
HydeJ. S., EssexM. J., ClarkR., KleinM. H., & ByrdJ. E. (1996). Parental leave: Policy and research. Journal of Social Issues, 52(3), 91–109.
30.
JacobsE. E. (Ed.). (1998). Handbook of U.S. Labor Statistics (2nd ed.). Lanham, MD: Bernan Press.
31.
JamrozikA., & NocellaL. (1998). The sociology of social problems: Theoretical perspectives and methods of intervention.Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
32.
KimS. (1998). Toward understanding family leave policy in public organizations: Family leave use and conceptual framework for the family leave implementation process. Public Productivity and Management Review, 22(1), 71–87.
33.
LeeD. R. (1993). Mandated benefits and entry-level employees and employment. Journal of Labor Research, 14(3), 199–211.
34.
LevitK. R., OlinG. L., & LetschS. W. (1992). Americans' health insurance coverage, 1980–1991. Health Care Finance Review, 14, 31–57.
35.
LevitanS. A., & GalloF. (1990). Work and family: The impact of legislation. Monthly Labor Review, 113(3), 34–40.
36.
MeyerM. H., & PavalkoE. K. (1996). Family, work, and access to health insurance among mature women. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 37, 311–325.
37.
MishelL., BernsteinJ., & SchmittJ. (1999). The state of working America, 1998–99 (An Economic Policy Institute Book). Ithaca, NY: IRL Press, an imprint of Cornell University Press.
38.
MoenP. (1992). Women's two roles: A contemporary dilemma.New York: Auburn House.
39.
MuntanerC., & ParsonsP. E. (1996). Income, social stratification, class, and private health insurance: A study of the Baltimore metropolitan area. International Journal of Health Services, 26, 655–671.
40.
O'RandA. M. (1986). The hidden payroll: Employee benefits and the structure of workplace inequality. Sociological Forum, 1, 657–683.
41.
RootL. S. (1985). Employee benefits and social welfare: Complement and conflict. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 479, 101–118.
42.
ScharlackA. E., & StangerJ. K. (1995). Mandated family and medical leave: Boon or bane?Compensation and Benefits Management, 11(3), 1–9.
43.
SeccombeK., ClarkeL. L., & CowardR. T. (1994). Discrepancies in employer-sponsored health insurance among Hispanics, Blacks, and Whites: The effects of sociodemographic and employment factors. Inquiry, 31, 221–229.
44.
SeylerD. L., MonroeP. A., & GarandJ. C. (1995). Balancing work and family: The role of employer-sponsored child care benefits. Journal of Family Issues, 16, 170–193.
45.
SniderS. (1995). Characteristics of the part-time work force and part-time employee participation in health and pension benefits. Journal of Labor Research, 16, 239–248.
46.
SolbergE., & LaughlinT. (1995). The gender pay gap, fringe benefits, and occupational crowding. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 48, 692–708.
47.
SpainD., & BianchiS. M. (1996). Balancing act: Motherhood, marriage, and employment among American women.New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
48.
Spalter-RothR. M., & HartmanH. I. (1991). Science and politics and the “dual vision” of feminist policy research: The example of family and medical leave. In HydeJ. S., & EssexM. J. (Eds.), Parental leave an child care: Setting a research and policy agenda (pp. 41–65). Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
49.
TreasJ. (1987). The effect of women's labor force participation on the distribution of income in the United States. Annual Review of Sociology, 13, 259–288.
50.
U.S. Department of Labor. (1998, August). Employer-sponsored child care benefits. Issues in Labor Statistics (Summary 98–9). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Labor.
51.
U.S. Department of Labor. (1993). 20 facts on women workers.Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
52.
WaldropJ. (1994). What do working women want?American Demographics, 16(9), 36–37.
53.
WetzelJ. R. (1990). American families: 75 years of change. Monthly Labor Review, 113(3), 4–13.
54.
WexlerS. (1997). Work/family policy stratification: The examples of family support and family leave. Qualitative Sociology, 20, 311–322.
55.
WiatrowskiW. J. (1988). Comparing employee benefits in the public and private sectors. Monthly Labor Review, 111(12), 3–8.
56.
WiatrowskiW.J. (1990). Family-related benefits in the workplace. Monthly Labor Review, 113(3), 28–33.
57.
WiatrowskiW. J. (1994). Employee benefits for union and nonunion workers. Monthly Labor Review, 117(2), 34–37.
58.
WillisJ. (1998). The family and medical leave act of 1993: A progress report. Brandeis Journal of Family Law, 36(1), 95–108.
59.
WrightE. O. (1993). Typologies, scales, and class analysis: A comment on Halaby and Weakliem. American Sociological Review, 58, 31–34.
60.
WrightE. O., & ChoD. (1992). The relative probability of class boundaries to cross-class friendships: A comparative study of the United States, Canada, Sweden and Norway. American Sociological Review, 57, 85–102.
61.
ZillN., & NordC.W. (1994). Running in place: How American families are faring in a changing economy and an individualist society.Washington, DC: Child Trends.
