- Industry Research
- Labor Standards
- Low-Wage Work
- Public Cost of Low-Wage Work
- Restaurants & Food Services
- Report
Fast Food, Poverty Wages: The Public Cost of Low-Wage Jobs in the Fast-Food Industry
Press Coverage
string(25644) "We Thought These Things Would Make Society Work Better in the 2010s. What Happened?
Triple Pundit | October 24, 2023Coalition gathers signatures to stall California’s fast-food labor law
East Bay Times | December 6, 2022Fast-food workers to stage protest over opposition to new labor law
Orange County Register | November 14, 2022Restaurant employees are essential workers yet often denied basic needs
Daily Californian | September 23, 2021What minimum wage increases did to McDonald’s restaurants — and their employees
MarketWatch | January 28, 2021Government study shows taxpayers are subsidizing “starvation wages” at McDonald’s, Walmart
Salon | December 12, 2020Millions of U.S Workers for Walmart, McDonald’s and Other Corporate Giants Rely on Food Stamps and Medicaid
In These Times | November 20, 2020Walmart and McDonald’s have the most workers on food stamps and Medicaid, new study shows
Washington Post | November 18, 2020Taco Bell will try paying some managers $100,000 a year — but In-N-Out Burger already pays managers $160,000
MarketWatch | January 9, 2020Burger King Wants You to ‘Feel Your Way.’ But What About Its Own Employees?
Eater | May 23, 2019Missoula city, county push to increase wages, but will the private sector follow?
Missoula Current | February 18, 2019Sanders, Khanna Introduce Bill to Get Billionaires Off Welfare
Bernie Sanders U.S. Senator for Vermont Newsroom | September 5, 2018Bernie Sanders’s BEZOS bill takes aim at how Amazon pays workers
Vox | September 5, 2018How Andy Puzder’s fast-food industry sticks taxpayers with the cost of supporting its workers
Los Angeles Times | January 23, 2017Fight for $15 to join Chicago Teachers Union’s April 1 strike
Chicago Tribune | March 25, 2016Gov. Andrew Cuomo: NY workers deserve a $15 minimum wage (Commentary)
Syracuse.com | March 7, 2016$15 minimum wage doomsayers wrong
Orange County Register | October 2, 2015Automats: The Utopian Future or a Return to a Dystopian Past?
Eater | September 16, 2015Fast-Food Workers Have Won the Wage Fight in New York
TakePart | September 11, 2015Orange County Register Echoes Right-Wing Media Myths To Attack $15 Minimum Wage In California
Media Matters for America | September 9, 2015Don’t blame your expensive lunch on minimum wage increases
The Guardian | July 14, 2015The List of the Fight for $15’s Victories—Tangible and Intangible—Is Getting Longer
In These Times | June 15, 2015‘Fight For $15’ workers create recipe for change at convention
Al Jazeera America | June 6, 2015Forget First Quarter Earnings, Wal-Mart Just Made a Long-Term, Business-Sustaining Move
TheStreet | May 21, 2015Ending the Minimum-Wage Subsidy
Bloomberg View | May 20, 2015What James Franco gets wrong about working for McDonald’s
Washington Post Wonkblog | May 7, 2015Dem leaders want Senate food workers to make $15 an hour
The Hill | April 28, 2015The Makings of a Fast-Food-Worker Movement
TakePart | April 17, 2015‘High Public Cost Of Low Wages’: Taxpayers Paying Billions In Assistance To Working Families
Inquisitr | April 14, 2015Five myths about fast-food work
Washington Post | April 10, 2015McDonald’s Minimum Raise
New York Times | April 3, 2015Should McDonald’s Follow Wal-Mart’s Lead and Hike Wages?
Motley Fool | March 26, 2015Could a $15 minimum wage make sense for Oregon?
Christian Science Monitor | March 9, 2015Making a Living Wage in Fast Food in Denmark
The Daily Meal | January 29, 2015Two years later, fast food workers’ fight for $15 and a union still going strong
Richmond Confidential | December 31, 2014The False Dichotomy of Wages vs. Profits
strategy+business blog | December 22, 2014Fast Food Workers, Joined By Other Low Wage Workers, Strike in Record 190 Cities
In These Times | December 4, 2014Fast-Food Workers Strike in Oakland, Again
East Bay Express | December 4, 2014Fast Food in Denmark Serves Something Atypical: Living Wages
New York Times | October 27, 2014Is the Fast-Food Industry Driving Income Inequality in America?
Business Cheat Sheet | October 15, 2014Rich and on the dole
New York Daily News | October 14, 2014Four takeaways from Joe Biden’s Las Vegas visit
Las Vegas Sun | October 6, 2014Marriott to hotel guests: Please pay our maids for us
Fortune | September 16, 2014Dignity: Fast-food workers and a new form of labor activism
The New Yorker | September 15, 2014Study: Fast Food Workers More Likely To Be On Publicly Subsidized Healthcare
Capital Public Radio | September 4, 2014Union Workers Push for Minimum Wage Hike
ABC7 News | September 1, 2014A university president gave up $90,000 to give his minimum wage workers a raise
Vox | August 11, 2014UFCW study urges legislative support for unions
Supermarket News | June 9, 2014Study: Grocery workers struggle to pay for food
San Diego Union-Tribune | June 8, 2014Grocery workers in California see wages shrink
San Francisco Chronicle | June 8, 2014Opinion: Why fast food workers need be be paid more
CNN | May 15, 2014The fast food strike: the hard facts behind the Big Mac attack
PBS Newshour | May 15, 2014Fast food workers to strike again
Boston Globe | May 14, 2014The Blame-Game, Double Standards & Fast Food: A Tale of the United States Economy
The London Economic | May 13, 2014Wall Street Journal Promotes Falsehood That Higher Wages Push Workers Onto Government “Dole”
Media Matters for America | May 6, 2014Fast Food Pulls a Fast One
Moyers & Company | April 29, 2014How taxpayers subsidize millions in restaurant CEO pay
CBS MoneyWatch | April 22, 2014Fast-food CEOs make 1,000 times more than their workers
CBS MoneyWatch | April 22, 2014How high should minimum wage go?
Cincinnati Enquirer | April 7, 2014Thumbs-up for $15-an-hour minimum wage in new S.F. poll
San Francisco Chronicle | March 16, 2014Report: Minimum wage hike would cut food stamp spending by $4.6 billion a year
Washington Post | March 4, 2014Hey, Washington! The Pay Is Too Damn Low: The Minimum-Wage War
Rolling Stone | February 27, 2014For $1 per Big Mac, a truly livable salary for millions
Boston Globe | February 18, 2014The Case for a Higher Minimum Wage
New York Times | February 8, 2014Why McDonald’s Should Focus on Less Beef and Higher Wages
The Guardian | January 29, 2014Bill O’Reilly Blesses Minimum Wage Hike
San Francisco Chronicle | January 15, 2014Raise Minimum Wages, Say Some on the Right
San Francisco Chronicle | January 12, 2014Audio: McDonald’s Tells Full-Time Employee to Apply for Welfare Benefits
Moyers & Company | October 24, 2013Fast-Food Giants Make Billions while their Workers use Billions in Welfare Benefits
Alternet | October 15, 2013McDonald’s on employee resources site: Not lovin’ it
CNN | December 26, 2013The Minimum Wage and McDonald’s Welfare
Bloomberg | December 17, 2013Is service work today worse than being a household servant?
Al Jazeera America | December 10, 2013Fox Piles On Big Business’ Attempt To Smear Fast Food Protesters As “Rent-A-Mobs”
Media Matters for America | December 10, 2013Editorial: Work and Rewards
New York Times | December 6, 2013Large number of low-wage workers rely on public assistance programs
89.3 KPCC Southern California Public Radio, Airtalk | December 5, 2013Want to Cut Food Stamp Spending? Raise the Minimum Wage
Huffington Post | December 3, 2013Life on $7.25 an Hour: Older Workers Are Increasingly Entering Fast-Food Industry
New York Times | November 28, 2013Walmart Employees Organize Food Drive… for Other Walmart Employees
Yahoo Finance | November 18, 2013Commentary: When fast food corporations hold down wages, it affects all of us
by Ken Jacobs | Sacramento Bee | November 13, 2013Taxpayers pay high cost for low fast-food wages, lawmakers are told
Los Angeles Times | November 13, 2013Report: Fast Food Bad for California Taxpayers
KCRA 3 News, Sacramento | November 13, 2013California Legislature Holds Joint Fast Food Wages Hearing
Capital Public Radio | November 13, 2013Legislators Probe Taxpayer Cost of Aiding Fast-Food Workers
San Francisco Chronicle | November 13, 2013Lowering the Minimum Wage? What a Terrible Idea
The Guardian | November 12, 2013Editorial: Fast-Food Subsidy Unsavory
St. Louis Post-Dispatch | November 7, 2013One NYC Family’s Struggle to Survive on a Fast Food Salary
PBS NewsHour | November 4, 2013Bill Maher: Average fast food worker is 29, most are on public assistance
PunditFact | November 4, 2013Low Wages Force More Than Half Of Fast Food Workers To Rely On Government Assistance
Business Insider | November 3, 2013The Real Cost of Fast Food
Center for Economic and Policy Research | October 31, 2013Editorial: Taxpayers’ $7 billion Subsidy to Fast-Food Profits Should End
St. Louis Post-Dispatch | October 30, 2013Taxpayers Spending $7 Billion To Supplement Fast-Food Workers’ Wages
International Business Times | October 18, 2013How Multi-Billion Dollar Corporations Rely on the Public to Feed their Workforce
American Prospect | October 16, 2013Why US Taxpayers Pay $7 Billion A Year To Help Fast-Food Workers
NPR The Salt blog | October 16, 2013Fast-food workers leaning on federal aid
CBS MoneyWatch | October 16, 2013Public Aid Crucial to Fast-Food Workers
Boston Globe | October 16, 2013Fast Food, Big Costs
San Diego Union-Tribune | October 16, 2013Low fast-food wages come at high public cost, reports say
Washington Post | October 15, 2013Studies Link Fast-Food Wages to Public Assistance
Wall Street Journal | October 15, 2013McDonald’s Low Wages Cost Taxpayers $1.2 Billion Per Year: Study
Huffington Post | October 15, 2013McDonald’s Low Wages Come With a $7 Billion Side of Welfare
Bloomberg Businessweek | October 15, 2013Fast-Food Workers Are Costing the US $7 Billion a Year in Public Aid
Time | October 15, 2013Majority of US fast-food workers need public assistance –study
Reuters | October 15, 2013Majority of US fast food workers need public assistance
Al Jazeera America | October 15, 2013Low fast-food wages come at high cost to US taxpayers, says report
The Guardian | October 15, 2013Study: Taxpayers Foot Costly Bill for Fast-Food Workers
Atlanta Journal Constitution | October 15, 2013Fast-Food Workers Depend on Public Aid, Report Says
Chicago Tribune | October 15, 2013More Than Half of U.S. Fast Food Workers on Public Aid, Report Says
Los Angeles Times | October 15, 2013Public Assistance for Fast-Food Workers Costs Taxpayers, Reports Say
Kansas City Star | October 15, 2013Majority of Fast-Food Households are Using Welfare Assistance, Medicaid: Report
New York Daily News | October 15, 2013Report: Burger King Workers Collecting More than $300M in Public Assistance
Miami Herald | October 15, 2013Half of Fast Food Workers Receive Income Subsidies, Medicaid or Food Stamps, Study Says
Hartford Courant | October 15, 2013Low-wage fast-food jobs leave hefty tax bill, report says
Berkeley News | October 15, 2013"
- We Thought These Things Would Make Society Work Better in the 2010s. What Happened?
October 24, 2023 - Triple Pundit
- Coalition gathers signatures to stall California’s fast-food labor law
December 6, 2022 - East Bay Times
- Fast-food workers to stage protest over opposition to new labor law
November 14, 2022 - Orange County Register
- Restaurant employees are essential workers yet often denied basic needs
September 23, 2021 - Daily Californian
- What minimum wage increases did to McDonald’s restaurants — and their employees
January 28, 2021 - MarketWatch
- Government study shows taxpayers are subsidizing “starvation wages” at McDonald’s, Walmart
December 12, 2020 - Salon
- Millions of U.S Workers for Walmart, McDonald’s and Other Corporate Giants Rely on Food Stamps and Medicaid
November 20, 2020 - In These Times
- Walmart and McDonald’s have the most workers on food stamps and Medicaid, new study shows
November 18, 2020 - Washington Post
- Taco Bell will try paying some managers $100,000 a year — but In-N-Out Burger already pays managers $160,000
January 9, 2020 - MarketWatch
- Burger King Wants You to ‘Feel Your Way.’ But What About Its Own Employees?
May 23, 2019 - Eater
- Missoula city, county push to increase wages, but will the private sector follow?
February 18, 2019 - Missoula Current
- Sanders, Khanna Introduce Bill to Get Billionaires Off Welfare
September 5, 2018 - Bernie Sanders U.S. Senator for Vermont Newsroom
- Bernie Sanders’s BEZOS bill takes aim at how Amazon pays workers
September 5, 2018 - Vox
- How Andy Puzder’s fast-food industry sticks taxpayers with the cost of supporting its workers
January 23, 2017 - Los Angeles Times
- Fight for $15 to join Chicago Teachers Union’s April 1 strike
March 25, 2016 - Chicago Tribune
- Gov. Andrew Cuomo: NY workers deserve a $15 minimum wage (Commentary)
March 7, 2016 - Syracuse.com
- $15 minimum wage doomsayers wrong
October 2, 2015 - Orange County Register
- Automats: The Utopian Future or a Return to a Dystopian Past?
September 16, 2015 - Eater
- Fast-Food Workers Have Won the Wage Fight in New York
September 11, 2015 - TakePart
- Orange County Register Echoes Right-Wing Media Myths To Attack $15 Minimum Wage In California
September 9, 2015 - Media Matters for America
- Don’t blame your expensive lunch on minimum wage increases
July 14, 2015 - The Guardian
- The List of the Fight for $15’s Victories—Tangible and Intangible—Is Getting Longer
June 15, 2015 - In These Times
- ‘Fight For $15’ workers create recipe for change at convention
June 6, 2015 - Al Jazeera America
- Forget First Quarter Earnings, Wal-Mart Just Made a Long-Term, Business-Sustaining Move
May 21, 2015 - TheStreet
- Ending the Minimum-Wage Subsidy
May 20, 2015 - Bloomberg View
- What James Franco gets wrong about working for McDonald’s
May 7, 2015 - Washington Post Wonkblog
- Dem leaders want Senate food workers to make $15 an hour
April 28, 2015 - The Hill
- The Makings of a Fast-Food-Worker Movement
April 17, 2015 - TakePart
- ‘High Public Cost Of Low Wages’: Taxpayers Paying Billions In Assistance To Working Families
April 14, 2015 - Inquisitr
- Five myths about fast-food work
April 10, 2015 - Washington Post
- McDonald’s Minimum Raise
April 3, 2015 - New York Times
- Should McDonald’s Follow Wal-Mart’s Lead and Hike Wages?
March 26, 2015 - Motley Fool
- Could a $15 minimum wage make sense for Oregon?
March 9, 2015 - Christian Science Monitor
- Making a Living Wage in Fast Food in Denmark
January 29, 2015 - The Daily Meal
- Two years later, fast food workers’ fight for $15 and a union still going strong
December 31, 2014 - Richmond Confidential
- The False Dichotomy of Wages vs. Profits
December 22, 2014 - strategy+business blog
- Fast Food Workers, Joined By Other Low Wage Workers, Strike in Record 190 Cities
December 4, 2014 - In These Times
- Fast-Food Workers Strike in Oakland, Again
December 4, 2014 - East Bay Express
- Fast Food in Denmark Serves Something Atypical: Living Wages
October 27, 2014 - New York Times
- Is the Fast-Food Industry Driving Income Inequality in America?
October 15, 2014 - Business Cheat Sheet
- Rich and on the dole
October 14, 2014 - New York Daily News
- Four takeaways from Joe Biden’s Las Vegas visit
October 6, 2014 - Las Vegas Sun
- Marriott to hotel guests: Please pay our maids for us
September 16, 2014 - Fortune
- Dignity: Fast-food workers and a new form of labor activism
September 15, 2014 - The New Yorker
- Study: Fast Food Workers More Likely To Be On Publicly Subsidized Healthcare
September 4, 2014 - Capital Public Radio
- Union Workers Push for Minimum Wage Hike
September 1, 2014 - ABC7 News
- A university president gave up $90,000 to give his minimum wage workers a raise
August 11, 2014 - Vox
- UFCW study urges legislative support for unions
June 9, 2014 - Supermarket News
- Study: Grocery workers struggle to pay for food
June 8, 2014 - San Diego Union-Tribune
- Grocery workers in California see wages shrink
June 8, 2014 - San Francisco Chronicle
- Opinion: Why fast food workers need be be paid more
May 15, 2014 - CNN
- The fast food strike: the hard facts behind the Big Mac attack
May 15, 2014 - PBS Newshour
- Fast food workers to strike again
May 14, 2014 - Boston Globe
- The Blame-Game, Double Standards & Fast Food: A Tale of the United States Economy
May 13, 2014 - The London Economic
- Wall Street Journal Promotes Falsehood That Higher Wages Push Workers Onto Government “Dole”
May 6, 2014 - Media Matters for America
- Fast Food Pulls a Fast One
April 29, 2014 - Moyers & Company
- How taxpayers subsidize millions in restaurant CEO pay
April 22, 2014 - CBS MoneyWatch
- Fast-food CEOs make 1,000 times more than their workers
April 22, 2014 - CBS MoneyWatch
- How high should minimum wage go?
April 7, 2014 - Cincinnati Enquirer
- Thumbs-up for $15-an-hour minimum wage in new S.F. poll
March 16, 2014 - San Francisco Chronicle
- Report: Minimum wage hike would cut food stamp spending by $4.6 billion a year
March 4, 2014 - Washington Post
- Hey, Washington! The Pay Is Too Damn Low: The Minimum-Wage War
February 27, 2014 - Rolling Stone
- For $1 per Big Mac, a truly livable salary for millions
February 18, 2014 - Boston Globe
- The Case for a Higher Minimum Wage
February 8, 2014 - New York Times
- Why McDonald’s Should Focus on Less Beef and Higher Wages
January 29, 2014 - The Guardian
- Bill O’Reilly Blesses Minimum Wage Hike
January 15, 2014 - San Francisco Chronicle
- Raise Minimum Wages, Say Some on the Right
January 12, 2014 - San Francisco Chronicle
- Audio: McDonald’s Tells Full-Time Employee to Apply for Welfare Benefits
October 24, 2013 - Moyers & Company
- Fast-Food Giants Make Billions while their Workers use Billions in Welfare Benefits
October 15, 2013 - Alternet
- McDonald’s on employee resources site: Not lovin’ it
December 26, 2013 - CNN
- The Minimum Wage and McDonald’s Welfare
December 17, 2013 - Bloomberg
- Is service work today worse than being a household servant?
December 10, 2013 - Al Jazeera America
- Fox Piles On Big Business’ Attempt To Smear Fast Food Protesters As “Rent-A-Mobs”
December 10, 2013 - Media Matters for America
- Editorial: Work and Rewards
December 6, 2013 - New York Times
- Large number of low-wage workers rely on public assistance programs
December 5, 2013 - 89.3 KPCC Southern California Public Radio, Airtalk
- Want to Cut Food Stamp Spending? Raise the Minimum Wage
December 3, 2013 - Huffington Post
- Life on $7.25 an Hour: Older Workers Are Increasingly Entering Fast-Food Industry
November 28, 2013 - New York Times
- Walmart Employees Organize Food Drive… for Other Walmart Employees
November 18, 2013 - Yahoo Finance
- Commentary: When fast food corporations hold down wages, it affects all of us
November 13, 2013 - by Ken Jacobs
- Taxpayers pay high cost for low fast-food wages, lawmakers are told
November 13, 2013 - Los Angeles Times
- Report: Fast Food Bad for California Taxpayers
November 13, 2013 - KCRA 3 News, Sacramento
- California Legislature Holds Joint Fast Food Wages Hearing
November 13, 2013 - Capital Public Radio
- Legislators Probe Taxpayer Cost of Aiding Fast-Food Workers
November 13, 2013 - San Francisco Chronicle
- Lowering the Minimum Wage? What a Terrible Idea
November 12, 2013 - The Guardian
- Editorial: Fast-Food Subsidy Unsavory
November 7, 2013 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch
- One NYC Family’s Struggle to Survive on a Fast Food Salary
November 4, 2013 - PBS NewsHour
- Bill Maher: Average fast food worker is 29, most are on public assistance
November 4, 2013 - PunditFact
- Low Wages Force More Than Half Of Fast Food Workers To Rely On Government Assistance
November 3, 2013 - Business Insider
- The Real Cost of Fast Food
October 31, 2013 - Center for Economic and Policy Research
- Editorial: Taxpayers’ $7 billion Subsidy to Fast-Food Profits Should End
October 30, 2013 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch
- Taxpayers Spending $7 Billion To Supplement Fast-Food Workers’ Wages
October 18, 2013 - International Business Times
- How Multi-Billion Dollar Corporations Rely on the Public to Feed their Workforce
October 16, 2013 - American Prospect
- Why US Taxpayers Pay $7 Billion A Year To Help Fast-Food Workers
October 16, 2013 - NPR The Salt blog
- Fast-food workers leaning on federal aid
October 16, 2013 - CBS MoneyWatch
- Public Aid Crucial to Fast-Food Workers
October 16, 2013 - Boston Globe
- Fast Food, Big Costs
October 16, 2013 - San Diego Union-Tribune
- Low fast-food wages come at high public cost, reports say
October 15, 2013 - Washington Post
- Studies Link Fast-Food Wages to Public Assistance
October 15, 2013 - Wall Street Journal
- McDonald’s Low Wages Cost Taxpayers $1.2 Billion Per Year: Study
October 15, 2013 - Huffington Post
- McDonald’s Low Wages Come With a $7 Billion Side of Welfare
October 15, 2013 - Bloomberg Businessweek
- Fast-Food Workers Are Costing the US $7 Billion a Year in Public Aid
October 15, 2013 - Time
- Majority of US fast-food workers need public assistance –study
October 15, 2013 - Reuters
- Majority of US fast food workers need public assistance
October 15, 2013 - Al Jazeera America
- Low fast-food wages come at high cost to US taxpayers, says report
October 15, 2013 - The Guardian
- Study: Taxpayers Foot Costly Bill for Fast-Food Workers
October 15, 2013 - Atlanta Journal Constitution
- Fast-Food Workers Depend on Public Aid, Report Says
October 15, 2013 - Chicago Tribune
- More Than Half of U.S. Fast Food Workers on Public Aid, Report Says
October 15, 2013 - Los Angeles Times
- Public Assistance for Fast-Food Workers Costs Taxpayers, Reports Say
October 15, 2013 - Kansas City Star
- Majority of Fast-Food Households are Using Welfare Assistance, Medicaid: Report
October 15, 2013 - New York Daily News
- Report: Burger King Workers Collecting More than $300M in Public Assistance
October 15, 2013 - Miami Herald
- Half of Fast Food Workers Receive Income Subsidies, Medicaid or Food Stamps, Study Says
October 15, 2013 - Hartford Courant
- Low-wage fast-food jobs leave hefty tax bill, report says
October 15, 2013 - Berkeley News
This report was sponsored by the University of California, Berkeley, Center for Labor Research and Education and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Department of Urban & Regional Planning.
Executive Summary
Nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of enrollments in America’s major public benefits programs are from working families. But many of them work in jobs that pay wages so low that their paychecks do not generate enough income to provide for life’s basic necessities. Low wages paid by employers in the fast-food industry create especially acute problems for the families of workers in this industry. Median pay for core front-line fast-food jobs is $8.69 an hour, with many jobs paying at or near the minimum wage. Benefits are also scarce for front-line fast-food workers; an estimated 87 percent do not receive health benefits through their employer. The combination of low wages and benefits, often coupled with part-time employment, means that many of the families of fast-food workers must rely on taxpayer-funded safety net programs to make ends meet.
This report estimates the public cost of low-wage jobs in the fast-food industry. Medicaid, the Earned Income Tax Credit and the other public benefits programs discussed in this report provide a vital support system for millions of Americans working in the United States’ service industries, including fast food. We analyze public program utilization by working families and estimate total average annual public benefit expenditures on the families of front-line fast-food workers for the years 2007-2011. For this analysis we focus on jobs held by core, front-line fast-food workers, defined as nonmanagerial workers who work at least 11 hours per week for 27 or more weeks per year.
Main Findings
- More than half (52 percent) of the families of front-line fast-food workers are enrolled in one or more public programs, compared to 25 percent of the workforce as a whole.
- The cost of public assistance to families of workers in the fast-food industry is nearly $7 billion per year.
- At an average of $3.9 billion per year, spending on Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) accounts for more than half of these costs.
- Due to low earnings, fast-food workers’ families also receive an annual average of $1.04 billion in food stamp benefits and $1.91 billion in Earned Income Tax Credit payments.
- People working in fast-food jobs are more likely to live in or near poverty. One in five families with a member holding a fast-food job has an income below the poverty line, and 43 percent have an income two times the federal poverty level or less.
- Even full-time hours are not enough to compensate for low wages. The families of more than half of the fast-food workers employed 40 or more hours per week are enrolled in public assistance programs.