Challenging conventional wisdom, a new survey says men – more than women – put greater emphasis on offering health insurance to employees at small businesses.
The American Express survey of 627 small-company owners and managers found that 67 percent of men versus 59 percent of women feel such coverage is important. The results, out today, are surprising to authorities on female-owned firms who believe women put more emphasis on health benefits.
“I would have expected it to be the other way,” says Sharon Hadary, executive director of the non-profit Center for Women’s Business Research.
The survey comes as women take a growing leadership role in business, and as corporations struggle with health costs. General Motors, for one, reached a landmark deal with its major union last week that shifts billions of dollars in retiree health costs off its books.
Small businesses employ nearly half of U.S. workers. Amid rising premiums, more are dropping medical benefits: Just 59 percent of companies with three to 199 workers now offer the benefit versus 68 percent in 2001, the Kaiser Family Foundation says. At those with 200 or more workers, 99 percent offer coverage, unchanged from 2001.
The American Express survey doesn’t surprise Alice Bredin, a consultant to the financial services giant. Companies owned by men are more likely to have employees, Census data show, and to emphasize growth. Female-owned firms are more likely to have few or no workers while aiming for slower growth.
So, Bredin says, men are more attuned to providing benefits to better compete. “If I’m going to hire,” she says, “I’m going to need to offer health care.”
Hadary’s view: Many women bring to their companies experience caring for children and aging parents, giving them a greater appreciation for family-friendly benefits. “My family has a safety net,” Hadary says. “Do my employees have a safety net?”
Chicago-area business owner Bruce Benton, 61, says men are just as concerned about workers. “Men have become socialized,” he says, citing their willingness to put careers on hold to take paternity leave.
Benton owns Bearly Friends in Lake Bluff, Ill., which sells personalized teddy bears. He employs six workers who get medical coverage from spouses. Otherwise, Benton says, he would offer insurance.
Near Cleveland, Deborah Kogler, 45, owner of retailer Magnifiers & More, also thinks women and men are equally concerned about health benefits – when they’re affordable. Kogler’s two-employee company only recently turned profitable, so she does not offer the benefit yet.
