Summary
During the Great Recession, the lowest income worker in California had six times the odds of lacking access to job-based insurance compared to the highest income worker group, according to this study authored by four Center researchers for the California Journal of Politics and Policy.
The study examined how a lack of health insurance affected workers and families who depend on job-based coverage during the Great Recession of 2007-2009. Workers in firms with less than 50 employees had double or triple the odds than those in larger firms of lacking access to health insurance through their own or a family member's job. Before and during the recession, adults were three times more likely to be uninsured than their children, who qualified for kids' public insurance programs. The results highlight the importance of children's programs and the need for the Affordable Care Act's insurance expansion provisions, researchers concluded.
The study used data from the 2007 and 2009 California Health Interview Surveys.
