Half of fast food workers need public aid

[Bowden]

Good article.
Either corporations provide their employees with living wages and benefits or the taxpayers provide it.

"The report estimated that this public aid carries a $7 billion price tag for taxpayers each year".

Entire article at:
http://money.cnn.com/2013/10/15/news...html?iid=HP_LN

By Emily Jane Fox October 15, 2013: 2:26 PM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
More than half of fast food workers have to rely on public assistance programs since their wages aren't enough to support them, a new report found.

According to a University of California Berkeley Labor Center and University of Illinois study out Tuesday, 52% of families of fast food workers receive assistance from a public program like Medicaid, food stamps, the Earned Income Tax Credit and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. That's compared to 25% of families in the workforce as a whole.

The report estimated that this public aid carries a $7 billion price tag for taxpayers each year.

The numbers are based on publicly available data on public assistance programs from 2007-2011.

"Because pay is low and weekly work hours are limited, the families of more than half of the workers in the fast-food industry are unable to make ends meet," the report said.

Related: The real budgets of McDonald's workers
The real budgets of McDonald's workers - (1) - CNNMoney

The data supports the claims that hundreds of fast food workers have been making across the country over the last year. Protests from New York City to Los Angeles, Memphis to Detroit have cropped up since last November, with workers calling for a minimum of $15 an hour and the right to organize without retaliation.

The common narrative among fast food workers is that their pay is too low, they don't get scheduled for enough hours and they get no benefits.

The new report fuels their fire, finding that only 13% of fast food workers get health benefits from their employers, compared to 59% of the workforce on the whole. It also said that the median worker only works 30 hours per week, compared to 40 for the rest of the workforce.

 

[G.Reaper]

Fast food was never meant to be a career. It is not a job to support a family on. I'm not sure where the misconception for these people comes from. There is no reason they can't go out and get a better paying job that requires no education. If they are not happy about the wages then they are in the wrong field of work!

 

[Bowden]

Fast food was never meant to be a career. It is not a job to support a family on. I'm not sure where the misconception for these people comes from. There is no reason they can't go out and get a better paying job that requires no education. If they are not happy about the wages then they are in the wrong field of work!

The point is that the employees are on public assistance due to the low level of corporate salaries and benefits.
The reality is that corporations are transferring to taxpayers employee salary and benefits costs that they would absorb if they provided living wages and benefits and taxpayers are funding that transfer to the tune of 7 billion taxpayer dollars worth of welfare program funding.
Math is math period.

Dynamic shifts in the job market are contributing to the problem.
The number of jobs out there that provide a middle class income and benefit level that allow people to stay off of public assistance are declining and the number of low paying low benefit service jobs are increasing.
The majority of jobs created since the recession started in 2008 have been low paying low benefit service jobs.
The people taking these jobs fall within the working poor economic class.

Some of it is due to globalization and the off shoring of manufacturing jobs.
Another factor is the decline in unionization.

Supply side economics ( lift all boats) has failed.
Wealth is not trickling down stimulating the economy and creating well paying jobs with benefits.
Until this changes conditions are not going to improve for the majority of workers.
The top economic class is holding capital at the top at the same time the middle and lower economic classes are in decline.

 

[G.Reaper]

What do you suppose the cost of the fast food will do if the employee wages are increased to $15/h? Much of the population is trying to live beyond their means and thus put their hands out so they can do so with as little effort/work as possible. Unions were a necessary entity, say during the industrial revolution. Today they are no longer needed and are a cause of much of the problems. Opportunity is out there but the problem is that it is too much work for many people. On top of that they are afraid to lose the government assistance by getting a better job or working more. I "helped" a guy quit because he wouldn't work O/T because it would cut into his assistance which was complete BS!! I'm a little bitter on that situation. I moved here and had to work for everything and couldn't afford all this crap so I made due without it until I got more firmly planted here. Obviously this has all changed because I worked my ass off, finished my college education etc. On the other side my wife didn't graduate but got her GED and she makes about what I do. Why? Because she wasn't afraid to work! We have both had full time jobs since 14 for me 16 for her.

 

[Zaphod]

You've been working full time since you were 14? (That's what child labor laws are for, monkey) Your wife only has a GED and makes what you do with a college degree? You really don't see anything wrong with that? I have a degree, work full time with optional OT if I want it, earn enough so my wife does not have to work, and we are raising three children. On one income. And I'm no executive, I'm barely management. What the fuck are you doing wrong? You work all those hours and your wife still has to work. It sounds like you are barely getting by. It also sounds like you are bitter that all your "hard work" isn't paying off, which from what you are saying it isn't. So why do you support the political party (it can be either one of the two major ones, it doesn't matter because they are the same) that wants to keep you from moving ahead/forward in life.

And why are you worried about fast food prices? That shit is bad for you.

 

[G.Reaper]

You couldn't be father from the truth on your assumptions. I started working with a friend who owned a landscaping business in So Cal. I was 14 and he paid me under the table. I was able to buy my new dirt bike and all other toys. Yes through hard work. It's a different industry up here where I moved. It's all mining. I am a sales manager and she is the safety manager at her place out at the mines. The mines just pay really well. But I get to stay in town and can do more with the kids. Prior to this I was at the mine and she was in town. And to be honest my MBA degree is petty useless at this point. At least In this area. You can get a high school flunky working under ground making 100k a year or driving a haul truck on the surface for 70k+. I have been management since 18 so I would say I'm not doing anything wrong. I only work barely 40 hours a week. She works because she likes to. On top of that I Like making 200k a year so we can have all the fun stuff we have now. You obviously missed the part where I said "obviously this has all changed". You want to come off an bash me with little facts when you can ask and we can have an adult conversation. The point is hard work pays off degree or not.
The fast food was for the principal of the matter. Wages go up so do the cost of goods.
So what the "fuck am I doing wrong" obviously trying to carry on a big boy conversation with a keyboard warrior.

 

[G.Reaper]

As far as political parties I agree with you which is why I don't support either side.

 

[Bowden]

What do you suppose the cost of the fast food will do if the employee wages are increased to $15/h? Much of the population is trying to live beyond their means and thus put their hands out so they can do so with as little effort/work as possible. Unions were a necessary entity, say during the industrial revolution. Today they are no longer needed and are a cause of much of the problems. Opportunity is out there but the problem is that it is too much work for many people. On top of that they are afraid to lose the government assistance by getting a better job or working more. I "helped" a guy quit because he wouldn't work O/T because it would cut into his assistance which was complete BS!! I'm a little bitter on that situation. I moved here and had to work for everything and couldn't afford all this crap so I made due without it until I got more firmly planted here. Obviously this has all changed because I worked my ass off, finished my college education etc. On the other side my wife didn't graduate but got her GED and she makes about what I do. Why? Because she wasn't afraid to work! We have both had full time jobs since 14 for me 16 for her.

Once again.
The point is that corporations are transferring 7 billion dollars worth of employee wages and benefits costs to taxpayers who are funding welfare for those employees.
This is a form of corporate welfare and is related to increased trends of income inequality in the U.S.

The capital that corporations retain is being transferred to the investor and wealthy classes in the form of high levels of executive compensation.
As well, it's related to the investor and wealthy economic classes who own stock in those corporations that benefit from low employee wage and benefits costs , it's associated with financial engineering as to cost margin ratios and to meeting estimated corporate eps quarterly wall street numbers, increased share-buybacks that boost stock share prices and increased stock ROI.

It's ether pay increased taxes to fund government welfare for those employees or pay a higher cost for the products those corporations sell.
Either way, you are paying for it.
I think that you pay regardless in situations like this is something that certain conservatives always forget when they argue in cases like this one.

 

[LAM]

Fast food was never meant to be a career. It is not a job to support a family on.

not supposed to be BUT IT IS, and that's the reality of the world that we live in. no other industrialized country in the world had off-shored manufacturing like the US has or is de-industrializing as fast as the US, because the owners in the US care about nothing except profits, they could give a dam about the fact that the US will look like Mexico in 50+ years because THEIR families will have fortunes to support them.

service sector jobs are ALL low paying it doesn't matter which one, non-shift supervisors make peanuts and shift supervisors might be luck to make $14-$15/hr which is still a joke once you adjust for inflation.

capitalism in the US is not about sustainability it's about making as much profits now by taking advantage of a very pro-business environment and the future be dammed, that's "someone else's" problem.

wage inflation doesn't necessarily cause price inflation, it's not like there isn't dozens of economic study's on this very subject alone backed by empirical data from around the globe.

 

[Little Wing]

What do you suppose the cost of the fast food will do if the employee wages are increased to $15/h? Much of the population is trying to live beyond their means and thus put their hands out so they can do so with as little effort/work as possible. Unions were a necessary entity, say during the industrial revolution. Today they are no longer needed and are a cause of much of the problems. Opportunity is out there but the problem is that it is too much work for many people. On top of that they are afraid to lose the government assistance by getting a better job or working more. I "helped" a guy quit because he wouldn't work O/T because it would cut into his assistance which was complete BS!! I'm a little bitter on that situation. I moved here and had to work for everything and couldn't afford all this crap so I made due without it until I got more firmly planted here. Obviously this has all changed because I worked my ass off, finished my college education etc. On the other side my wife didn't graduate but got her GED and she makes about what I do. Why? Because she wasn't afraid to work! We have both had full time jobs since 14 for me 16 for her.

seriously... who gives a motherfucking shit what happens to the cost of garbage food that adds so much to the burden of taxpayer funded healthcare to our poor population? and it would not really add that much to the cost of a burger if the company were forced to be responsible and take the difference from their profits not the customer. unions are needed wherever there is abuse and when companies hire more people to get around the laws that come with full time employees etc, that is abuse. i have worked my ass off for a company and had my hours handed over to someone else. i know how it feels and what motivates it and it's bullshit. this country cannot afford to run on taxing the same wages it paid people 20 years ago.

 

[exerciseordie]

When I worked fast food the minimum wage was 6.50/hr. They hired a lady on at 8 because she had experience and two kids. She refused to take handouts from the government and I asked her how she kept everything up and running in her household at this pay. Her answer, "I don't buy shit I don't need. I walk to work, shop at goodwill and garage sales, I don't go out to eat, and I don't have a cell phone or pager. Simply put I only buy what I need and I keep a roof over my head and food on the table." Now I personally believe that if you are taking handouts then you don't need 100 dollar shoes and a new iphone. Just from personal experience and having friends who lived off of close to minimum wage. Fuck my roommate supports himself off of 9 bucks an hour. How? He doesn't buy dumb shit.

 

[Little Wing]

either her husband had a good job or she was taking aid. she'd not be able to take her kids to doctor, dentist, or optometrist on that pay.

 

[G.Reaper]

When I worked fast food the minimum wage was 6.50/hr. They hired a lady on at 8 because she had experience and two kids. She refused to take handouts from the government and I asked her how she kept everything up and running in her household at this pay. Her answer, "I don't buy shit I don't need. I walk to work, shop at goodwill and garage sales, I don't go out to eat, and I don't have a cell phone or pager. Simply put I only buy what I need and I keep a roof over my head and food on the table." Now I personally believe that if you are taking handouts then you don't need 100 dollar shoes and a new iphone. Just from personal experience and having friends who lived off of close to minimum wage. Fuck my roommate supports himself off of 9 bucks an hour. How? He doesn't buy dumb shit.

If only we had restrictions on the welfare and what was purchased we wouldn't have this big of an issue. If more people were responsible like the lady you described welfare could be reserved for those who need it and not those making a career out of it.

 

[G.Reaper]

either her husband had a good job or she was taking aid. she'd not be able to take her kids to doctor, dentist, or optometrist on that pay.

I'm sure you are 100% right on that. But in her case it sounds on the surface like she was doing what she could and not looking to abuse the system.

 

[exerciseordie]

Or the kids had aid under the father which she wasn't with. Not to mention my state will give those who can't afford it free health care. Which I am perfectly fine with. I would rather give someone working their ass off healthcare than someone new Jordans. I am positive she didnt get food stamps or welfare though.

 

[exerciseordie]

Yea I am positive that she had some way of getting her kids healthcare. I was just blown away that people like her still exist. It seems like people do whatever they can to abuse the system.

 

[exerciseordie]

You do realize that if we raise minimum wage then prices go up on EVERYTHING right? So we would have to give people aid at close to the same rate. Look at history. Every time we raise minimum wage, inflation occurs.

 

[G.Reaper]

Once again.
The point is that corporations are transferring 7 billion dollars worth of employee wages and benefits costs to taxpayers who are funding welfare for those employees.
This is a form of corporate welfare and is related to increased trends of income inequality in the U.S.

The capital that corporations retain is being transferred to the investor and wealthy classes in the form of high levels of executive compensation.
As well, it's related to the investor and wealthy economic classes who own stock in those corporations that benefit from low employee wage and benefits costs , it's associated with financial engineering as to cost margin ratios and to meeting estimated corporate eps quarterly wall street numbers, increased share-buybacks that boost stock share prices and increased stock ROI.

It's ether pay increased taxes to fund government welfare for those employees or pay a higher cost for the products those corporations sell.
Either way, you are paying for it.
I think that you pay regardless in situations like this is something that certain conservatives always forget when they argue in cases like this one.

It is clear that our welfare system needs to be revamped and is being used in ways it was never intended.

 

[G.Reaper]

seriously... who gives a motherfucking shit what happens to the cost of garbage food that adds so much to the burden of taxpayer funded healthcare to our poor population? and it would not really add that much to the cost of a burger if the company were forced to be responsible and take the difference from their profits not the customer. unions are needed wherever there is abuse and when companies hire more people to get around the laws that come with full time employees etc, that is abuse. i have worked my ass off for a company and had my hours handed over to someone else. i know how it feels and what motivates it and it's bullshit. this country cannot afford to run on taxing the same wages it paid people 20 years ago.

I completely agree on the fast food and can care less. It is only hurting the health of many. But the corporation will still want to make high profits so they will charge more or find a way to maintain that profit right? This is the incentive in this country, to make money. Unions had their place but I think the laws we have now take care of that. Look at the harm unions have also caused. It's no wonder we are manufacturing out of the country. The auto industry is a good example of that with the legacy costs etc.

 

[Swiper]

not supposed to be BUT IT IS, and that's the reality of the world that we live in. no other industrialized country in the world had off-shored manufacturing like the US has or is de-industrializing as fast as the US, because the owners in the US care about nothing except profits, they could give a dam about the fact that the US will look like Mexico in 50+ years because THEIR families will have fortunes to support them.

service sector jobs are ALL low paying it doesn't matter which one, non-shift supervisors make peanuts and shift supervisors might be luck to make $14-$15/hr which is still a joke once you adjust for inflation.

capitalism in the US is not about sustainability it's about making as much profits now by taking advantage of a very pro-business environment and the future be dammed, that's "someone else's" problem.

wage inflation doesn't necessarily cause price inflation, it's not like there isn't dozens of economic study's on this very subject alone backed by empirical data from around the globe.

So what's your solution to the low wage problem in the fast food industry? lets here a solution form you for once, just once, that's all i'm asking...

 

[LAM]

So what's your solution to the low wage problem in the fast food industry? lets here a solution form you for once, just once, that's all i'm asking...

gee I don't, stop paying people poverty wages that's were I would start.

 

[Standard Donkey]

people who aren't making enough money to take care of their families shouldn't have families.

 

[LAM]

The Public Cost of Low-Wage Jobs in the Fast-Food Industry

Fast Food, Poverty Wages: The Public Cost of Low-Wage Jobs in the Fast-Food Industry

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?2011.1 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.

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.


Fast Food, Poverty Wages: The Public Cost of Low-Wage Jobs in the Fast-Food Industry

 

[Swiper]

gee I don't, stop paying people poverty wages that's were I would start.

how much per hour would a fast food worker need to make to have a "livable wage"?

 

[Standard Donkey]

how much per hour would a fast food worker need to make to have a "livable wage"?

yes LAM, how much should someone get paid to put mayonnaise on bread?

 

[bmw]

I don't get it. When I go to McDonald's or some other fine fast food type establishment, the people taking my order and running around behind the counter are almost all high school kids. You're telling me they have to support their families? Don't their parents fucking WORK????

 

[Little Wing]

You do realize that if we raise minimum wage then prices go up on EVERYTHING right? So we would have to give people aid at close to the same rate. Look at history. Every time we raise minimum wage, inflation occurs.

the employer should be made to absorb the cost not the customer. and they CAN well afford to. it's bullshit, complete and utter bullshit, that profits are at all time highs but these poor crybaby companies pay welfare wages. it's a lie that they cannot afford to pay decent wages without soaking the customer for it. it's nothing but greed.

 

[bmw]

and yes, raise min. wage, cost of goods increases, so that wage increase becomes net zero, or worse, it could actually mean their hourly rate buys them less. There has not been a real wage increase in the US, relative to inflation, since 1972.

 

[Standard Donkey]

I don't get it. When I go to McDonald's or some other fine fast food type establishment, the people taking my order and running around behind the counter are almost all high school kids. You're telling me they have to support their families? Don't their parents fucking WORK????

leave logic out of this!

 

[Little Wing]

does a single person here really believe it would cripple walmart to pay decent wages instead of relying on taxes to pay 7 billion to their workers? that the only way they could do it is charge people a lot more for some 2 cent piece of shit made in china? it's a fucking lie.