Here's What the Millennials Around Me Said About Benefits

The only participation requirement was a request that the respondents be employed in a position that offered some form of employee benefits.

The survey attracted a total of 43 responses: 28 from males, and 15 from females.

I found this result interesting, and troubling. I would have hoped that more females would have felt inclined to voice their opinions.

I was surprised by the much higher reply rate for males, as compared to females, especially since the answers were legitimate responses, and not goofy, prankster kinds of replies.

Results

Here are the results — some of which I feel are very relevant to all insurance and benefits advisors. The numbers here indicated how many times the respondents selected a particular option.

Question 1: Which one employee benefits (NOT Including health insurance) is the most important to you?

• 401(k) plan, or 401(k) plan with company match: 13 selections.
• Paid time off: 6 selections.
• Paid vacation: 3 selections.
• Flex schedule: 2 selections.
• Commuter reimbursement: 2 selections.
• Pension: 2 selections (could also be included with 401(k) plan).
• Not applicable: 2 selections.
• Company stock ownership: 1 selection.
• Long-term disability: 1 selection.
• Medical: 1 selection (even though I asked respondents not to give health insurance as the answer).
• Parties at office: 1 selection.
• Vision and dental: 1 selection.
• Retirement plan: 1 selection (could be included with 401(k) plan).
• Work at home: 1 selection.

The clear winner here was retirement benefits.

Question 2: Which one benefit would you like your company to offer it does not offer now?

• Flex time: 6 selections.
• Gym membership: 5 selections.
• 401(k) plan: 4 selections.
• Food: 4 selections.
• Not applicable: 4 selections.
• Summer Friday hours: 2 selections.
• Car allowance: 1 selection.
• Commuting cost reimbursement: 2 selections.
• Company events: 1 selection.
• Company match for charity contributions: 1 selection.
• Dental: 1 selection.
• Dogs at work: 1 selection.
• Extra maternity leave: 1 selection.
• Health insurance: 1 selection.
• Money for Insurance: 1 selection.
• Overtime: 1 selection.
• Paternity leave: 1 selection.
• Standing desk: 1 selection.
• Tuition reimbursement: 1 selection.
• Not sure: 1 selection.

The big winners here were gym membership coverage, flex time; and 401(k) plans.

It’s clear that some people do not know that health insurance plans often provide gym discounts.

It’s also seems that paid family leave benefits are not always being explained well to the employees.

Most of the survey participants live in New York state. New York state has recently implemented a paid family leave program. The program applies to almost every business in the state, and the program provides access to paid leave for a variety of family-related issues, including maternity. But, apparently, two survey respondents did not know that the state paid family leave law exists.

Question 3: If you had to stop working because of a serious accident or illness, and would not be returning to work for a long time, would you have the cash to pay your bills?

When asked about their ability to pay ongoing expenses in the event of a disability, here’s how the respondents answered

• Would have the cash to pay expenses: 13 respondents.
• Would not have the cash to pay expenses: 17 respondents.
• Might have the cash to pay expenses: 13 respondents.

These answers show me that employee benefits businesses, and insurance companies in general, need to a much better job of educating people about the exposure they face in the event of a disabling accident or illness.

Question 4: On a scale of 1 – 10 (with 10 being highest importance) what value would you place on life insurance as an employee benefit?

The respondents’ rankings of the importance of life insurance as an employee benefit came in all over the place.

• 10 (highest importance): 4 selections.
• 9: 1 selection.
• 8: 8 selections.
• 7: 6 selections.
• 6: 5 selections.
• 5: 8 selections.
• 4: 1 selection.
• 3: 1 selection.
• 2: 4 selections.
• 1 (lowest importance): 4 selections.

The survey attracted a small sample of people. But the numbers suggest to me that, on some intuitive level, most young adults understand that life insurance has an important role to play in the fabric of their lives. As these young workers start to add on to their family responsibilities, they may become buyers of life insurance without a great deal of arm twisting.

I look forward to the role I will play in helping these young people.

— Read The Oldest Members of Generation Z Are Now About 20, on ThinkAdvisor.

Jerry Cohen is a broker in the life, health and Medicare supplement insurance markets. His office is in Port Jefferson Station, New York.