Low wages mean more than $150 billion in public assistance for working families

Rss@dailykos.com (laura Clawson) · Tuesday, April 14, 2015, 2:32 pm
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Republicans tend to talk like there are two distinct groups of people: working people, and moochers on government aid. This doesn't mean Republicans support policies that benefit working people, like a minimum wage increase or paid sick leave, but it's a strong moral distinction they like to make. In reality, though, most people-73 percent of them-receiving government aid are from families where at least one adult is working at least part-time.
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A new study from the University of California Center for Labor Research and Education looks at participation in four key aid programs-Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program, Temporary Aid to Needy Families, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-finding that:
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...  between 2009 and 2011 the federal government spent $127.8 billion per year on these four programs for working families and the states collectively spent $25 billion per year on Medicaid/CHIP and TANF for working families for a total of $152.8 billion per year. In all, more than half-56 percent-of combined state and federal spending on public assistance goes to working families.

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More than half of fast food workers are enrolled in one of these programs; nearly half of child care and home care workers are, as are one in four part-time college faculty. That means these are industries where low pay from employers is subsidized by public assistance-by taxpayers. Some states are looking to combat this, and not just by raising the minimum wage:

In Connecticut, for example, a legislative proposal calls for large employers to pay a fee to the state for each worker who earns less than $15 an hour. In 2016, California will start publishing the names of employers that have more than 100 employees receiving Medicaid, and how much these companies cost the state in public assistance.

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On April 15, workers in several of the industries where low wages force high use of public assistance-fast food and home care and, yes, higher education-will be joining together to fight back with a national day of action. With median wages stagnating and economic inequality soaring, this is a fight for the broader middle class.
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