The job market may have cooled this year, but it was so strong in 2023, when employers were shopping for benefits for 2024, that it helped stabilize access to post-retirement employee health benefits. Conventional wisdom is that employer-sponsored retiree health benefits vanished sometime around the time the floppy disk drive disappeared. But the percentage of U.S. civilian workers who had access to retiree health benefits at age 65 steady at 20% this year, according to new Bureau of Labor Statistics annual employee benefits survey data that came out Thursday. Bureau statistics show that access to retiree health benefits at 65 has hovered around 20%, give or take a percentage point, since 2015. Related: More employers moving retirees to Medicare Advantage: Here's why The bureau does not break out its data by state but it does break out the data by Census region. At the regional level, access to retiree health benefits at age 65 ranges from 14% to 25%. For a look at what happened to retiree health benefits access at the nine regions between 2023 and 2024, ranked from lowest to highest, see the gallery above. The new bureau benefits tables also cover access to and actual participation rates for health benefits for active employees, retirement plans, disability insurance benefits, life insurance benefits and a variety of financial and quality-of-life benefits. Because the numbers are published by the federal government, they are free from copyright. Benefits consultants and employers can use the data in their own reports, presentations and social media posts without getting permission or paying for the data.

Health benefits

The Census Bureau recently reported an apparent drop in use of employer-sponsored health benefits. For people ages 19 through 64, for example, the percentage with employment-based coverage through their own job, a spouse's job or another relative's job fell to 62.9%, from 63.5%, according to the Census Bureau. The new Bureau of Labor Statistics figures show that the percentage of civilian workers with access to employer-sponsored health benefits increased to 75%, from 74%, but that the take-up rate held steady at 57%. But the bureau's estimate of civilian workers' take-up rate for the health benefits offered by their employers held steady at 76%.

Retirement plans

The percentage of U.S. workers with access to some kind of retirement plan increased to 75% this year, from 73% last year, possibly because of the new state retirement plan programs and retirement plan provisions in the Secure Act and the Secure 2.0 Act. Access to defined contribution retirement plans increased to 66%, from 63%, and participation in the plans increased to 46%, from 45%. For defined benefit pension plans, access held steady at 24% and participation held steady at 19%.