By Luke Reidenbach/California Budget Bites
A new report from the University of California, Berkeley’s Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE) estimates the public costs of low-wage work in the fast-food industry. In doing so, the report highlights a key and underdiscussed point about low-wage jobs: They don’t just have an impact on the workers themselves; they have an impact on everyone.
The authors estimate the financial costs of providing critical public services to workers who cannot make ends meet because of low wages, insufficient hours, or inadequate access to health care benefits. The study estimates that nationwide, the public costs of providing health care, nutrition services, and cash assistance to fast-food workers amount to nearly $7 billion per year.
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