More than half of U.S. small businesses don’t offer benefits to their employees, according to new research.
LIMRA, Windsor, Conn., published this finding in a summary of results from a March 2012 telephone survey of 754 private small businesses in the U.S. with 1-99 employees (including the owner), the companies having been in business for at least one year. The individuals polled made or shared in the firms’ decisions concerning business insurance and/or employee benefits.
The report finds that only 47 percent of small businesses (2-99 employees) in the U.S. offer benefits to their employees, the lowest level in two decades of LIMRA research. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 98 percent of businesses in the U.S. have fewer than 100 employees, accounting for approximately 35 percent of the U.S. workforce.
“The recession has had an impact on smaller employers’ ability to offer benefits, particularly those with fewer than ten employees,” says Kim Landry, research analyst, LIMRA Product Research. “The weak economy caused a lot of small firms to close, while the new firms cropping up to replace them are less likely to offer benefits.