Employer-provided nonwage benefit expenditures now account for one-third of U.S. firms' labor costs. We show that a broad measure of real labor costs including such benefit expenditures has become countercyclical during 1982-2014, contrary to the conventional view that labor costs are...

Previous work documents that leaving school in an economic downturn persistently depresses career outcomes as measured by wages, earnings, and other markers of labor market success. In this study I test whether leaving school in an economic downturn influences access to employer-sponsored health...

Employee benefits, a critical element of total employee rewards, are important for both employers and employees. This article explores the utility of employee benefits for male and female employees during the recent economic recession. In doing so, it intends to highlight an indirect...

This paper examines changes in health coverage among workers during the recession that started in December 2007. Data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation are used to examine health coverage prior to the recession, and as recently as July 2009. Monthly changes are examined for...