Health Care Blog

New Data: Most of the Increase in Employment is in Full-Time Positions Since the Affordable Care Act Became Law

Ed. Note: This post was updated February 10, 2014 to reflect the most recent data.

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics  show that of the overall increase in employment since the Affordable Care Act became law, more than 9 out of 10 positions have been full-time.

The Affordable Care Act continues to improve the functioning of labor markets in a range of ways including helping to slow the growth of premiums, creating affordable new options for small businesses, reducing the “job lock” that can keep workers from taking the best job for them, and generally improving health outcomes and reducing absenteeism. We are already seeing tangible changes in affordability, including employer premium growth at less than one-third the rate of the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Businesses owners who are looking to take advantage of tax credits, and other benefits under the law aimed at making coverage more affordable are encouraged to visit Business.USA.gov/healthcare for more information.

Moreover, to date there is no economy-wide evidence that the employer responsibility requirement, which is scheduled to go into effect in 2015, has increased part-time employment. In fact, a range of labor market data shows that our patterns of part-time employment are typical given our current economic recovery. This finding was reinforced by a recent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report, which concluded that there is “no compelling evidence that part-time employment has increased as a result of the ACA.”  Five charts make five key points in this area:

1. Since the Affordable Care Act became law, the economy has created 6.5 million full-time jobs, while the number of part-time jobs has been essentially unchanged.  Over the 46 months since the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, the number of employed people has increased by 6.4 million, reflecting a 6.5 million increase in the number of people with full-time jobs and a negligible decline in the number of people with part-time jobs. The net increase in employment over this period is therefore due entirely to an increase in full-time work.    

Building Coalitions to Promote a Healthier Seattle AAPI Community

Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett meets with AAPI community leaders at the International Community Health Services Clinic in Seattle, WA September 4, 2013. (by ICHS)

As a Member of President Obama’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs), I have the privilege to work on connecting the country’s AAPI communities with their Federal government. Yesterday, I was honored to facilitate a roundtable conversation with Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to the President, and a small group of AAPI health, business, and civic leaders from around the Seattle area.

The roundtable was hosted at the International Community Health Services (ICHS) International District medical and dental clinic.  We began with a tour of the facility hosted by Teresita Batayola, CEO of ICHS, and senior members of her staff.   The ICHS team highlighted for Ms. Jarrett the wonderful work being done from their facility to provide access to high quality and culturally sensitive health care, to address the challenges facing many in Seattle’s AAPI community.

 Following the tour, there was a vibrant discussion on the need for culturally sensitive outreach services under the Affordable Care Act, the importance of disaggregating data for AAPI communities to address health disparities, ways to promote more venture capital investments in AAPI entrepreneurship, and the critical need for a balanced approach to comprehensive immigration reform that embraces family unification as well as the needs in high-tech or high-demand industries.

 As Ms. Jarrett noted at the close of the roundtable, all of these issues – from health care to community development to small business – are fundamentally interconnected, and our success depends on us all working together. With the continued support and collaboration of partners throughout the Northwest, of President Obama and his team across the federal government, and with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, I am optimistic about the future and the health of our AAPI community.

Hyeok Kim is a member of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and the Executive Director of InterIm Community Development Association, a Seattle-based nonprofit.