Fringe Benefits

Data collected: Availability of fringe benefits has been collected during each survey year except 1981.

Table 1 summarizes, by survey year, the numbers of employed NLSY79 respondents reporting the availability of each type of benefit. This information is taken from the Employer Supplement questions; additional information is available in the CPS section. Further information on work-related benefits can be found in the "Pension Benefits & Pension Plans" section of this guide.

Table 1 Number of Civilian Workers Reporting the Availability of Various Types of Benefits at Their Current/Last Job: NLSY79 1979-2008

Type of Benefit	79	80	82	83	84	85	86	87	88	89	90	91	92	93	94	96	98	00	02	04	06	08
Reporting Availability¹	5047	4132	7652	5869	6560	6492	6735	7014	8131	8126	8015	6214	6147	6592	7164	6990	6772	6132	na⁴	na⁴	na⁴	na⁴
Hospital Insurance	1893	2305	4124	3757	4347	4380	4704	5141	5704	6052	6009	5181	5135	5056	5195	5286	5309	5278	4927	4791	4795	4847
Life Insurance	1230	1647	2979	2912	3391	3421	3800	4262	4719	5027	5067	4360	4331	4316	4423	4518	4511	4553	4261	4168	4138	4191
Paid Vacation	2190	2664	4494	4205	4740	4716	5040	5456	6023	6229	6312	5308	5227	5097	5264	5238	5207²	5160³	4655	4510	4374	4456
Sick Days w/ Full Pay						3468	3815	4307	4634	4903	4906	3683	3989	3885	4106	4182	4125²	4106	3877	3804	3757	3781
Dental Benefits						2563	2913	3425	3833	4149	4222	3835	3816	3894	4022	4266	4426	4529	4353	4226	4326	4402
Maternity/Paternity Leave						3395	3695	4101	4284	4467	4413	3755	3719	4057	4106	4288	4294	4196	3915	3808	3927	3942
Disability Insurance									4748
Retirement Plan (Not Social Security)									3933	4219	4345	3901	3949	4000	4143	4345	4493	4576	4370	4279	4265	4332
Stock Options									1848
Profit Sharing									2029	2214	2208	1956	2019	1949	1912	1905	1822	1759	1586	1385	1511	1471
Training/Educational Opportunities									3208	3567	3775	3307	3306	3308	3281	3419	3469	3501	3274	3128	3174	3247
Company-Provided or Subsidized Childcare									342	430	509	533	526	509	527	582	513	566	522	451	815	513
Company-Paid or Subsidized Meals									1016	1259	1301
Company-Provided or Subsidized Transportation									932
Company-Provided or Subsidized Housing									228
Flexible Hours or Work Schedule										3846	3878	3249	3218	3264	3355	3568	3560	3535	3254	3215	3181	3223
Company-Provided or Subsidized Parking										4337	5003
Employee Discounts										3631	3709
Note: Question formats for the benefits series have changed over time, so numbers may not be strictly comparable from year to year. These data are from the Employer Supplements; other benefit information is available in the CPS section.
¹ See universe restrictions box for information on eligible universe in each round.
² These include those with combined sick/vacation days and with 995 responses to sick days questions (meaning combined sick/vacation days).
³Includes paid vacation days and combined sick/vacation days.
⁴This question was asked in a different fashion from 2002 forward and is not comparable to previous rounds.

Data have been collected during each NLSY79 young adult survey on the availability of benefits provided by employers. Questions on benefits for the NLSY97 cohort are only asked of respondents who report an employee job lasting at least 13 weeks that ended after the date of their 16^th birthday, or who are age 16 and over and report an on-going employee job at which they have worked at least 13 weeks. Information on benefits has been collected for the Mature Women in 1977, 1982, 1987, 1989, and 1995-2003; for the Young Women in 1978 and each survey since 1983; and for the Young Men in 1976 and 1981. The exact categories of benefits for which information was recorded may vary; generally, less information was collected in earlier years. Consult the BLS website at www.bls.gov/nls or the appropriate cohort's User's Guide for more information.

Year(s)	Universe
1980-1992	The employee benefit series was administered to those respondents who worked 20 hours or more a week at their current or last job and who were not self-employed in an unincorporated business or enlisted in the military.
1993-2008	Those working under 10 hours a week were asked if their employer provided any benefits. Those respondents replying in the affirmative were then asked the detailed employee benefit series. Employee benefits questions were asked only about the CPS job from 1979-93; they have been asked about all jobs beginning in 1994. The types of benefits about which information has been gathered vary across the years.