The table below compares what companies and government have been paying their employees over the past 20 years: the percent share of employer costs for worker compensation and health benefits.
The table shows they paid more in benefits and less in wages and salaries, and that is especially the case among people who work for the unionized public sector.
Of all the different types of benefits, the cost of health insurance has consumed the most of the average worker’s compensation — representing 8.2 cents of a dollar in pay today versus 5.8 cents of a dollar in 1998.
