Department of Labor Logo United States Department of Labor
Dot gov

The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Workers with disability insurance plans

March 04, 2015

Short- and long-term disability insurance programs replace some of the wages people lose when they cannot work because of an injury or illness that is not work related. In 1999, 36 percent of private industry workers had short-term disability insurance and 25 percent had long-term disability insurance. In 2014, 39 percent had short-term insurance and 33 percent had long-term insurance.

Percentage of private industry workers who participate in short- and long-term disability insurance programs, 1999–2014
Year Short-term disability insurance Long-term disability insurance

1999

36 25

2003

37 28

2006

37 29

2010

38 31

2014

39 33

Workers in service occupations are the least likely to have disability insurance plans. The percentage of workers in short-term disability plans in 2014 ranged from 19 percent for service workers to 53 percent for workers in management, professional, and related occupations. The percentage in long-term insurance plans ranged from 10 percent in service occupations to 57 percent in management, professional, and related occupations.

Percentage of private industry workers who participate in short- and long-term disability insurance plans by occupation group, March 2014
Occupation group Short-term disability insurance Long-term disability insurance

Management, professional, and related

53 57

Production, transportation, and material moving

46 30

Natural resources, construction, and maintenance

39 26

Sales and office

37 32

Service

19 10

These data are from the National Compensation Survey-Benefits program. For more information, see Disability insurance plans: trends in employee access and employer costs, by Kristen Monaco, in the February 2015 edition of Beyond the Numbers.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Workers with disability insurance plans at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2015/disability-insurance-plans-for-workers.htm (visited March 28, 2024).

OF INTEREST
spotlight
Recent editions of Spotlight on Statistics


triangle