Federal workers are significantly more content with their financial well-being than non-government workers, regardless of their income level or educational background.
Forty-four percent of civil service employees surveyed in the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index described themselves as thriving when asked about their financial well-being. That compared with only 34 percent of private sector employees who said they are thriving.
Thirty-nine percent of the government workers describe themselves as financially struggling, compared to 42 percent of private sector employees. Only 17 percent of the federal employees described themselves as financially suffering, compared to 24 percent in the private sector.
The survey interviewed 80,000 adults 18-years-old or older working full-time. Gallup classified the respondents as “thriving” as having a “strong and consistent” financial position that enabled respondents to”spend time and energy addressing other facets of well-being in their day-to-day lives, including their purpose, social, community and physical well-being.”
Gallup said the results of its survey “show that federal employment is likely associated with higher levels of economic stability and reductions in the stress of providing for a comfortable lifestyle because federal workers report higher financial well-being.”
There was little variation in the advantage of federal workers on financial well-being. For people earning less than $2,000 per month, 25 percent of the federal workers described themselves positively for financial well-being, compared to 15 percent of private sector workers.
There was an 11 percent advantage for the government workers, compared to those in the private sector, among people earning $2,000 to $2,999 per month.
The smallest advantage for government workers came among those making $10,000 or more per month. Sixty percent of such federal employees put themselves in the top rank for financial well-being, compared to 54 percent of the private sector employees.
The same pattern was seen in terms of financial well-being on educational attainment, with 35 percent of the least educated federal employees (those with high school degrees or less) in the top rank, compared to 27 percent of the private sector workers.
Among the most highly educated employees, 55 percent of the government workers described themselves as having the highest level of financial well-being, compared to 47 percent of the private sector workers.
Gallup acknowledged that “federal pay has been a topic of debate for years, with differing accounts of whether federal employees are paid more, no more or less than non-federal employees.”
But, the surveyor said “financial well-being is not a direct report of salary, benefits or overall compensation. It is a composite of responses to the perceptions of standards of living, affordability of basic necessities and financial woes based on region of country, family size, cost of living, debt and various other factors that go into subjective assessments of financial situations.”
A Congressional Budget Office study in 2012 concluded that federal workers overall enjoy a 16 percent advantage over private sector workers, when measured according to the total value of salary and benefits.
The total compensation advantage over the private sector was most pronounced among federal workers with no more than a high school degree at 36 percent, according to CBO. The advantage over the private sector was 15 percent among government workers with an undergraduate college degree — who make up the bulk of the 2.1 million federal civil servants.
Mark Tapscott is executive editor of the Washington Examiner.
