Parental employment, family structure, and child's health insurance

To examine the impact of family structure on the relationship between parental employment characteristics and employer-sponsored health insurance coverage among children with employed parents in the United States.

National Health Interview Survey data for 1993-1995 was used to estimate proportions of children without employer-sponsored health insurance, by family structure, separately according to maternal and paternal employment characteristics. In addition, relative odds of being without employer-sponsored insurance were estimated, controlling for family structure and child's age, race, and poverty status.

Children with 2 employed parents were more likely to have employer-sponsored health insurance coverage than children with 1 employed parent, even among children in 2-parent families. However, among children with employed parents, the percentage with employer-sponsored health insurance coverage varied widely, depending on the hours worked, employment sector, occupation, industry, and firm size.

Employer-sponsored health insurance coverage for children is extremely variable, depending on employment characteristics and marital status of the parents.