Employer health benefit costs and demand for part-time labour

The current healthcare policy debate in the USA has stressed the fact that a growing number of Americans are going without health insurance coverage. Much of this decline in coverage is due to rising costs affecting employer's provision of health insurance benefits to their employees. One potential avenue for this is through employers changing their employment mix and decreasing the number of employees eligible for such benefits in an effort to reduce costs. In this study we investigate the link between rising employer costs for health insurance benefits and the demand for part-time workers.