Employers in the health services and education sector have the highest percentage of workers with student loan debt, at 20%, according to a report from the Employee Benefit Research Institute.
EBRI examined how student loan debt varies by the industry of workers and the size of their employers, noting that it takes borrowers 20 years, on average, to pay off their student loans.
Among workers in health services and education fields, the data show that 11.8 % of their total debt is carried by student loans. For public administration and leisure / hospitality workers, that amount is 8% and 7.6%, respectively. For workers in the finance industry, that percentage drops to 3.1%.
Size matters when it comes to an employee’s financial well-being, according to EBRI.
“The size of the employer can play a big part in an employee’s financial well-being, as bigger employers may be able to provide more benefits,” according to the report.
Large employers in the study, with 501 or more workers, had the highest percentage of workers with student loan debt (6.7%). Small employers, with 100 employees or fewer workers, had 14.3% of their workers with student loan debt, and medium companies, with 101 to 499 employees, had 13% of their workers with student debt.
“For employers in industries with a high prevalence of student loan debt, helping their workers with this debt can be an important tool for improving their employees’ well-being. This type of benefit could also be equally important for attraction and retention either alone or in combination with overall budgeting programs,” EBRI said.
