A recent study proved that large corporations use taxpayer money to subsidize starvation wages which leave employees relying on public assistance programs to just survive, while executives reap billions in profit. The Government Accountability Office undertook the study at the request of Sen. Bernie Sanders to answer questions about the relationship between employers and the federal benefits programs. They found that 5.7 million Medicaid enrollees and 4.7 million SNAP recipients who worked full-time earned wages so low that they qualified for these programs.The time for a reckoning on corporations’ labor exploitation has come and we must ask ourselves why a minimum wage that hasn’t kept up with the 657% increase in inflation and 176% increase in productivity is acceptable. If a company can’t pay the labor force creating their wealth well enough to feed themselves, their nefarious business plan is inherently flawed.
Exploitation should not be subsidized. Yet, according to the study titled “Millions of Full-time Workers Rely on Federal Health Care and Food Assistance Programs,” this is exactly what American tax dollars are funding. Among the largest culprits, were Walmart McDonalds who have the most workers on food stamps and Medicaid. Walmart was in the top four employers of SNAP and Medicaid beneficiaries in each state, while McDonald’s was in the top five in the nine states reported. Within the nine states that responded about SNAP benefits, Wlmart employed 14,500 workers receiving the benefit and McDonalds 8,780. Out of the six states that responded about Medicaid enrollees, Walmart came out first place, with 10,350 employees. McDonald’s followed it with 4,600 Medicaid enrollees in those states.
This November 2020 study came just as 660 billionaires gained $1.9 trillion while hunger rose 28%, 73 million lost work, 12 million lost health insurance, & over 25 million fell ill with Covid-19.
Moreover, today’s $7.25 minimum wage is 29% lower than it was 50 years ago despite the fact that productivity has doubled since the late 1960s. The minimum wage would be $24.00 today if it kept up with the over 657% rise in inflation & 176% rise in productivity over the past 50 years. Hard-working Americans driving the economy through their labor are being robbed.
Approximately 70% of adult wage earners receiving Medicaid and SNAP benefits worked full-time hours on a weekly basis. It’s morally despicable that someone working full-time can’t afford to exist. There is no excuse for multi-million and billion-dollar corporations (like Walmart who gained $64 billion during the pandemic) not paying their workers enough to eat and survive. Corporations’ labor costs are so low they’re being subsidized by taxpayers. Huge corporations are making billions in profit by relying on corporate welfare from the government by paying their workers poverty wages. It’s time for large corporations to finally pay their workers a living wage. Corporate welfare must end.
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