Working, but Needing Public Assistance Anyway
Nearly three-quarters of the people helped by programs geared to the
poor are members of a family headed by a worker, according to a new study by the Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education
at the University of California. As a result, taxpayers are providing
not only support to the poor but also, in effect, a huge subsidy for
employers of low-wage workers, from giants like McDonald’s and Walmart
to mom-and-pop businesses.
“This is a hidden cost of low-wage work,” said Ken Jacobs, chairman of
the Berkeley center and a co-author of the report, which is scheduled
for release on Monday
Even
some of the nation’s best-educated workers have turned to taxpayers for
support; a quarter of the families of part-time college faculty members
are on public assistance, the Berkeley researchers found.
“I’m
very proud of my doctorate, it was well-earned, but in terms of the
work force, it’s a penalty,” said Wanda Brewer, who lives in Mayfield, a
Chicago suburb, and teaches at DeVry and Concordia colleges. She is
paid $2,700 for each 15-week course she teaches. She and her 4-year-old
daughter are both on Medicaid; they also receive $390 a month in food
stamps and a child care subsidy.
She
has applied for other jobs at chains like Walmart, Home Depot and
Menard’s, but says she can’t even get a call back because such employers
consider her overqualified.
“When
I apply for anything outside education, they laugh at me,” Ms. Brewer
said. “The term professor immediately commands respect. The assumption
is you’re making a fair wage, a living wage, but that is not necessarily
so.”
