Nearly One Third of Zillennials Would Rather Apply to a New Job Than Select Health Insurance During the Open Enrollment Process

Based on a survey conducted by The Harris Poll and commissioned by Justworks, Zillennials (those aged 18-43) require more support during the open enrollment process and need greater clarity, especially on where to find resources to help answer their questions as they select their health insurance. 

Why does Justworks care about this? Well, over 70% of Justworks’ members are Millennials and Gen-Z’ers.

So, just how much of a black box is the process for Zillennials? 

• Over half of Zillennials who participate in open enrollment (51%) admit to having blindly chosen a health insurance plan in the past because they didn’t understand the complicated terms and definitions – double the amount of Gen X or older adults who say the same (25%).

• Further, nearly half of Zillennials who participate in open enrollment (46%) say they regret certain decisions they’ve made about their health insurance plan during open enrollment – compared to just under a quarter of those aged Gen X or older (24%).

What Would You Rather Do Than Select Health Insurance?

Perhaps because of the difficulties Zillennials experience during the open enrollment process, those in these younger generations are more likely than their older counterparts to say they would rather do a variety of activities than select health insurance during the open enrollment process, including:

• 32% of Zillennials would rather apply to a new job (v 12% Gen X)

• 29% would rather do their taxes (v 23% Gen X)

• 27% would rather give up sweets for a month (v 21% Gen X)

• 25% would rather move to a new apartment (v 10% Gen X)

• 22% would rather sit in the middle seat on a 3-hour flight (v 17% Gen X)

• 19% would rather give a speech in front of a crowd (v 13% Gen X)

• 12% would rather get a root canal (v 10% Gen X)

• 10% would rather break their arm (v 6% Gen X)

Zillennials Phone a Friend (or AI)

Zillennials on their own insurance who participate in open enrollment are much more likely than their older counterparts (44% vs. 20% of Gen X and older) to say that relying on others - such as their insurance provider (15%), a family member/friend (13%), their HR department (11%), or even AI (4%) – to recommend a health insurance plan is their primary approach to selecting a plan.

Gen Z adults who participate in open enrollment are significantly more likely than Millennials to say asking others for a recommendation (57% vs. 38%) is their primary approach, especially their HR department or insurance provider (32% vs. 24%). In fact, nearly half of Zillennials who participate in open enrollment (47%) say they’ve relied on their parents for help when selecting their health insurance plan, including nearly 3 in 5 within Gen Z (57% vs. 44% Millennials).

More Resources, Please!

More than 2 in 5 Zillennials who participate in open enrollment (45%) are not sure where to direct their questions about the open-enrollment process (e.g., to their HR department, directly to their insurance provider), compared to just a quarter of those aged Gen X or older (25%).

It’s no surprise that the majority of Zillennials who participate in open enrollment (81%) feel that HR departments should provide employees with more help during the open enrollment process – especially true among Millennials (83% vs. 75% of Gen Z).

To support people this open enrollment season, we took matters into our own hands. Justworks’ Open Enrollment Hotline will be open Monday, October 21 through Thursday, October 24 (5pm-8pm ET). If you're confused about open enrollment or health insurance generally, send us a quick chat with questions like “what the heck is a deductible?” “can I really buy sunscreen and band-aids with my FSA dollars?” “what’s the difference between in network and out of network, and how does this impact my costs?” We’ll answer your high-level questions (remember, Justworks does not provide advice on which plans to enroll in) to empower you with more knowledge as you make your selections. 

Justworks’ award-winning Customer Support team is available to answer health insurance-related questions for small businesses and their employees every day. We thought it was about time we took some of the burden off many founders, small business owners, and entrepreneurs answering these questions for their teams, who might not love health insurance as much as we do…

Research Method

The consumer survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Justworks from September 3-5 and 5-9 among 4,167 U.S. adults ages 18 and older including 2,389 respondents who participate in open enrollment. Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in our surveys. The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval.  For this study, the total sample data is accurate to within ± 1.7 percentage points using a 95% confidence level and the data among those who participate in open enrollment is accurate to within ± 2.3 percentage points. These credible intervals will be wider among subsets of the surveyed population of interest.  For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables and subgroup sample sizes, please contact [email protected].