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Employee Ownership and Economic Well-Being

employee ownership

Employee ownership has great potential to stabilize employment, to root productive capital in communities, and to increase the assets and incomes of working families.

The Report

The National Center for Employee Ownership has just released results from the first phase of an ongoing research project that compares the economic well-being of employee-owners early in their careers with that of other young workers. The findings, based on data collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, are remarkable.

Download Research

The dataset’s powerful sampling design allowed us to explore the impact of employee ownership on diverse groups of young workers ages 28 to 34.

Employee-owners have better outcomes across a wide variety of measures of economic well-being, and those differences apply to the respondents as a whole and to specific demographic groups.

2018 Update on Employee-owners

As the National Longitudinal Surveys consist of the same people surveyed over time, the NCEO is able to revisit and update these results overtime and track how employee-owners continue to fare since our initial research report.

View Update

With support from the Employee Ownership Foundation, the latest results from 2015 have been analyzed and the results continue to reveal the positive trend explored in last year’s report.

Respondents Overall

Among the survey respondents, all ages 28 to 34, in the overall sample…

Summary of Results
Full Report
0 %
... median household net worth is 92% higher for employee-owners.
0 %
... employee-owners have 33% higher median income from wages.
0 %
... median job tenure for employee-owners is 53% higher.
0 x
… employee-owners are more than twice as likely to receive tuition benefits from their employers.

Lower-Income Workers∗

Among the lower-income survey respondents, all ages 28 to 34 …

Summary of Results
Full Report
0 %
... median household net worth is 17% higher for employee-owners.
0 %
... employee-owners have 22% higher median income from wages.
0 %
... median job tenure for employee-owners is 11% higher.
0 x
… employee-owners are more than three times as likely to receive tuition benefits from their employers.

∗workers with $30,000 or less in annual income from wages.

Workers of Color 

Among the survey respondents who are workers of color, all ages 28 to 34 …

Summary of Results
Full Report
0 %
... median household net worth is 79% higher for employee-owners.
0 %
... employee-owners have 30% higher median income from wages.
0 %
... median job tenure for employee-owners is 36% higher.
0 x
… employee-owners are almost three times as likely to receive tuition benefits from their employers.

Parents of Young Children

Among the survey respondents who are parents of young children*, all ages 28 to 34 …

Summary of Results
Full Report
0 %
... median household net worth is 91% higher for employee-owners.
0 %
... employee-owners have 33% higher median income from wages.
0 %
... median job tenure for employee-owners is 44% higher.
0 x
… employee-owners are more than twice as likely to receive tuition benefits from their employers.

* “young children” are ages zero to eight.

Respondents Overall

Among the survey respondents, all ages 28 to 34, in the overall sample…

Summary of Results
Full Report
0 %
... median household net worth is 92% higher for employee-owners.
0 %
... employee-owners have 33% higher median income from wages.
0 %
... median job tenure for employee-owners is 53% higher.
0 x
… employee-owners are more than twice as likely to receive tuition benefits from their employers.

Lower-Income Workers∗

Among the lower-income survey respondents, all ages 28 to 34 …

Summary of Results
Full Report
0 %
... median household net worth is 17% higher for employee-owners.
0 %
... employee-owners have 22% higher median income from wages.
0 %
... median job tenure for employee-owners is 11% higher.
0 x
… employee-owners are more than three times as likely to receive tuition benefits from their employers.

∗workers with $30,000 or less in annual income from wages.

Workers of Color 

Among the survey respondents who are workers of color, all ages 28 to 34 …

Summary of Results
Full Report
0 %
... median household net worth is 79% higher for employee-owners.
0 %
... employee-owners have 30% higher median income from wages.
0 %
... median job tenure for employee-owners is 36% higher.
0 x
… employee-owners are almost three times as likely to receive tuition benefits from their employers.

Parents of Young Children

Among the survey respondents who are parents of young children*, all ages 28 to 34 …

Summary of Results
Full Report
0 %
... median household net worth is 91% higher for employee-owners.
0 %
... employee-owners have 33% higher median income from wages.
0 %
... median job tenure for employee-owners is 44% higher.
0 x
… employee-owners are more than twice as likely to receive tuition benefits from their employers.

* “young children” are ages zero to eight.

Lower-Income Workers∗

Among the lower-income survey respondents, all ages 28 to 34 …

Summary of Results
Full Report
0 %
... median household net worth is 17% higher for employee-owners.
0 %
... employee-owners have 22% higher median income from wages.
0 %
... median job tenure for employee-owners is 11% higher.
0 x
… employee-owners are more than three times as likely to receive tuition benefits from their employers.

∗workers with $30,000 or less in annual income from wages.

Workers of Color 

Among the survey respondents who are workers of color, all ages 28 to 34 …

Summary of Results
Full Report
0 %
... median household net worth is 79% higher for employee-owners.
0 %
... employee-owners have 30% higher median income from wages.
0 %
... median job tenure for employee-owners is 36% higher.
0 x
… employee-owners are almost three times as likely to receive tuition benefits from their employers.

Parents of Young Children

Among the survey respondents who are parents of young children*, all ages 28 to 34 …

Summary of Results
Full Report
0 %
... median household net worth is 91% higher for employee-owners.
0 %
... employee-owners have 33% higher median income from wages.
0 %
... median job tenure for employee-owners is 44% higher.
0 x
… employee-owners are more than twice as likely to receive tuition benefits from their employers.

* “young children” are ages zero to eight.

Respondents Overall

Among the survey respondents, all ages 28 to 34, in the overall sample…

Summary of Results
Full Report
0 %
... median household net worth is 92% higher for employee-owners.
0 %
... employee-owners have 33% higher median income from wages.
0 %
... median job tenure for employee-owners is 53% higher.
0 x
… employee-owners are more than twice as likely to receive tuition benefits from their employers.

What is Employee Ownership?

Employee ownership—employees owning stock in the companies where they work—is a common but relatively unfamiliar aspect of the U.S. economy. The primary form of employee ownership in the United States is the employee stock ownership plan, or ESOP.

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ESOPs allow workers to accrue stock in their company over the course of their employment and receive payment for their stock as a retirement benefit. Congress designed ESOPs in the 1970s to encourage owners of private companies to transfer ownership to employees in a non-discriminatory way and at no cost to the employees themselves; instead, the owners are paid the full value of their shares by the ESOP itself, which borrows the money if necessary and repays the loan from company earnings.

Today, 6,500 American companies have ESOPs. Many of these businesses use innovative management tools to closely engage their employee-owners in driving the company’s success.

In addition to the more detailed overview on this site, you can also learn more about ESOPs through articles and publications on the NCEO website. Infographics, interactive maps, videos, and more are at at www.esopinfo.org.

Who Are Employee-Owners? 

bolton-3

Sidney Bolton

S&C Electric, Chicago, IL.

“When S&C Electric sold to us employees through an ESOP in 2007, I didn’t know what an ESOP was. Thanks to the ESOP I will be able to retire this year, a full two years ahead of schedule. More than just a financial benefit, S&C has really and truly treated me like a member of the family.”

ayanna-banks-darryl-moses-and-germaine-bond

Ayanna Banks

Recology, San Francisco, CA.

“Recology has given me a great opportunity in life. I am a single mother of two beautiful girls, and being an owner at Recology has given me the tools I need to make them successful in life. People know that this is just not a company they work at, it’s a company they have ownership in.”

READ MORE

Resources

  • NCEO Research
    More about NCEO research is available on the NCEO research page or by contacting the NCEO’s research director, Nancy Wiefek (NWiefek@nceo.org).
  • NCEO
    Visit www.nceo.org for articles, publications, and many other resources.
  • ESOP Website
    Our sister site, www.esopinfo.org, has infographics, videos, interactive maps, and more.
  • Share these results
    You can refer to this data in media articles and your own communication. Contact outreach@nceo.org for support.
  • Research Fact Sheet
    For a summary of these results and other related NCEO research, download this fact sheet.

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