U.S. workers are staying in unwanted jobs for health insurance

Axios Axios —

Almost a quarter of workers in the U.S. — 23 million adults — are experiencing "https://www.axios.com/2026/06/30/jobs-data-labor-market" target="_blank">job lock," staying in roles they don't want to avoid losing https://www.axios.com/2026/02/11/charted-health-insurance-coverage-family-income" target="_blank">health insurance benefits, according to a new Gallup https://news.gallup.com/poll/712166/one-four-employees-locked-jobs-health-insurance.aspx" target="_blank">analysis.

Why it matters: Women and people who have chronic health conditions feel the burden most because https://www.axios.com/2026/05/26/insurers-blame-affordability-health" target="_blank">health care costs limit their https://www.axios.com/2026/03/24/where-you-work-matters-index-upward-mobility" target="_blank">career mobility, https://www.axios.com/2026/04/21/jobs-wages-hiring-fed" target="_blank">wage growth and https://www.axios.com/2025/02/06/americans-national-mood-poll-record-low-trump" target="_blank">life satisfaction.

By the numbers: Almost half (48%) of respondents who described health care as a "major financial burden" are staying put in unwanted jobs.

  • Fifty-three percent of U.S. workers who experience "a lot of stress" because of health care costs keep unwanted jobs to maintain their insurance.
  • About 44% who have personal or household medical debt say they are staying in an unwanted job for insurance.
  • Thirty-seven percent of workers in the U.S. who borrowed money in the past year to pay for medical expenses say they are staying in an unwanted job, compared with 22% of those who did not borrow money.

The intrigue: Workers with one or more chronic conditions are also 12 percentage points more likely than those without chronic conditions to report job lock (29% vs 17%.)

  • About 41% of workers with three or more diagnoses will do the same.

    The phenomenon is especially common among people with conditions that require ongoing or intensive care.

Between the lines: The chronic disease burden is more prominent among women, affecting 66% of women compared to 57% of men.

  • Women are more likely than men to experience job lock, at 30% vs. 20%, respectively.
  • Women are also 12 percentage points more likely to experience financial problems due to healthcare expenses than men.

Zoom out: Job lock coincides with broader healthcare affordability challenges, with about half of Americans reporting difficulty paying for care or prescriptions.

Worth noting: Large employers are https://www.axios.com/2025/08/20/work-health-care-coverage-costs-increase" target="_blank">raising insurance premiums this year by up to 10% after health care costs sharply outpaced expectations.

Methodology: Gallup conducted this survey from Oct. 27 to Dec. 22, 2025, among 5,660 U.S. adults.

This analysis focuses on 2,322 employed respondents who rely on employer-sponsored health insurance as their primary source of coverage.

Editor's note: This story and its headline have been corrected to make clear that the Gallup survey referred to U.S. workers (not all Americans).

Go deeper: https://www.axios.com/2026/05/26/insurers-blame-affordability-health" target="_blank">Health insurers point fingers over affordability woes

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