Guardian Survey: Fear of Losing Income Due to the Economy Equals Fear of Losing Income Due to ...( Forty-one Percent with Retirement Acc...),Health

Forty-one Percent with Retirement Accounts Would Borrow From Funds to Cover

Lost Income

NEW YORK, May 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite job-security worries stemming from current economic conditions, it appears that U.S. employees are just as concerned about the possibility of losing their ability to earn an income due to an unexpected illness or injury, according to a recent survey from Berkshire Life Insurance Company of America (Berkshire), a wholly-owned stock subsidiary of The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (Guardian).

In a sign that consumer fears about disability (its likelihood and impact on one's standard of living) are top of mind, 28% of employees are extremely or very concerned about losing their income within the next 6 to 12 months because an accident or illness would make them unable to work. In comparison, a nearly equal number (25%) are concerned about losing their jobs within the next 6 to 12 months due to economic conditions.

Other findings revealed in the study, Insurance & Behavior: Life Without Income:
-- African-Americans are more than twice as likely as Caucasians to be

concerned about the potential of losing their income due to accident

or illness over the next 12 months (50% vs. 24%).

-- African-Americans are nearly three times as likely as Caucasians to be

concerned about potential loss of income due to economic conditions

(52% vs. 19%).

-- The level of Hispanic-Americans' anxiety was similar to white

Americans with regard to loss of income due to disability and fell in

between that of black and white Americans in relation to job loss:

Twenty-seven percent of Hispanic respondents indicated they were

extremely or very concerned about loss of income due to disability,

while 31% felt the same about the prospect of economy-related job

loss.

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