24% of U.S. Workers Stay in Unwanted Jobs for Insurance, Up 8 Points Since 2021
Updated
Updated · Gallup · Jul 22
24% of U.S. Workers Stay in Unwanted Jobs for Insurance, Up 8 Points Since 2021
3 articles · Updated · Gallup · Jul 22
Summary
About 23 million U.S. workers with employer-sponsored coverage report “job lock” — staying in jobs they want to leave to avoid losing health insurance — according to a West Health-Gallup study.
An 8-percentage-point rise since 2021 comes as healthcare affordability worsens: about half of Americans struggle to pay for care or prescriptions, and 51% worry about affording healthcare over the next year.
Workers under the heaviest cost pressure report the highest job-lock rates, including 44% with medical debt, 48% who call healthcare a major financial burden and 53% highly stressed by healthcare costs.
Chronic illness and gender widen the pattern: 29% of workers with chronic conditions report job lock versus 17% without, while women report it at 30% compared with 20% for men.
The findings suggest employer-tied coverage is increasingly constraining job mobility, entrepreneurship, wage growth and overall wellbeing.