One-quarter of Millennials are uninsured—One of 3 things you need to know this week in employee benefits

Survey: One in four young adults go without health coverage

New survey results from InsuranceQuotes.com reveal that nearly one in four Millennials (ages 18–29) don’t have health insurance.

The poll finds that young adults are less likely than all other age groups to have health coverage—or any other type of coverage for that matter. Millennials also are less likely to have auto, life, disability or home/renter’s insurance, according to InsuranceQuotes.com.

The findings are surprising, considering this age group is allowed to remain on their parents’ health insurance policies until age 26, and also could likely to qualify for health care reform subsidies if they purchased policies on their own.

Financial literacy gender gap narrows

According to a recent report from Financial Finesse, from 2012 to 2013, the overall gender gap in financial literacy shrank from a 14 percentage-point difference to just under a 13 percentage-point difference.

Although it may seem like a small movement, the organization emphasizes the overall advances women are making. While each gender is moving ahead in financial understanding of concepts like retirement planning, investing, saving and tax planning, women appear to be taking larger strides.

In particular, women are closing the gap in several key areas, including managing debt, saving for emergencies, and feeling like they are on track for retirement.

This will surely be a topic at “New Approaches to Engagement,” a financial wellness event we’re thrilled to be hosting jointly with Hello Wallet. We’ll have finance, retirement, and communication experts on hand to discuss best practices and success stories in engaging employees around financial literacy. If you're in the Bay Area, we'd love to see you.

This week’s hidden gem: Happy 40th birthday, ERISA!

Today (Sept. 2) marks the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. In recognition of this landmark day in benefits history, view an Employee Benefit News slideshow including 11 major milestones in the life of ERISA.