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In the series “The Secret Life of a Food Stamp,” Marketplace reporter Krissy Clark traces how big-box stores make billions from the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, aka food stamps. What’s more, the wages of many workers at these stores are so low that the workers themselves qualify for food stamps—which the employees then often spend at those big-box stores.
This video crunches the numbers on how much Walmart, the single biggest beneficiary of the food stamp economy, might have to raise prices across the board to help a typical worker earn a living wage.
A note on methodology: Eligibility for food stamps varies according to income, number of dependents, and other factors. This estimate of Walmart’s potential cost from raising wages is based on wages for a Walmart employee with one dependent working 30 hours a week, a typical retail worker based on federal data.
I went to Walmart last week and was behind someone on food stamps who was
being super slow (I am also on food stamps so that’s not the point. Follow
along). I could see the look of thinly veiled frustration on the cashier’s
face, so when he FINALLY left the line, I paid for my stuff quickly. While
she was checking me out I apologized for him being so annoying. The woman
told me that was the least of her issues, that she was on food stamps too
and that she was both happy and frustrated at something else entirely. I
asked her what was wrong and she said that Walmart had given her a raise. I
asked why she was upset about that. A raise is a good thing and Walmart
needs to pay its employees better. She said that when she was hired she was
hired to work in the back, which makes $1 to $2 less than those in the
front, but that she had been working the front for the past two weeks
straight and wasn’t going to get paid the same wages as the other cashiers.
Walmart and some of the food companies that make the products they sell
lobby congress with millions of dollars every year to reduce standards and
freeze minimum wage because they are banking on the backs of America’s
poor. In a lot of places Walmart is the only food store there is, or at the
very least the best stocked. They have little to no competition in large
swaths of the country so they can charge what they like. They can also pay
their employees as little as possible and scam employees out of wages
through cheep tricks like this because, really, who the hell is going to
take Walmart to court? Better yet, who would win?
The point: Capitalism in this country is now more important in Washington
than the ability of the American people to make a living. I hear
Republicans argue for getting rid of the minimum wage and some people
ACTUALLY AGREE WITH THEM! Its as if they are oblivious to the fact that the
minimum wage is the only thing separating them from sweat shop wages. The
people in charge have abandoned us. They have used propaganda to blind us
and distract us as they tear down our HOPE! What point it there in living
if your life is a blur of double shifts just so we don’t end up homeless?
DON’T LET THIS GOVERNMENT STRIP US OF OUR RIGHT TO LIVE WITHOUT BEING
SLAVES TO BIG BUSINESS!
TURN OFF THE TV
QUESTION EVERYTHING YOU ARE TOLD
RESEARCH! DON’T JUST ACCEPT THINGS BECAUSE THEY FALL IN LINE WITH YOUR
PERSONAL OPINION.
VOTE FOR WHATS RIGHT! NOT FOR A PARTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
VOTE FOR WHAT IS BEST FOR EVERYONE, NOT JUST YOU.
LET THE PEOPLE IN OUR GOVERNMENT KNOW THAT WE SEE WHAT THEY ARE DOING AND
THAT THEIR TIME IS OVER AND OUR TIME IS NOW!
Corporations don’t create jobs, People with spending money create jobs.
It is never this simple. Also good thing mostly liberals shop at
wal-mart…
I am not a statistician and my grasp of the intricacies of economics is
superficial. I would, therefore, like my friends, family and acquaintances
who have studied statistics and/or economics to shed some light on this
video’s claims.
I’m sure they are simplifying, but by how much and does the core of the
argument (that increasing everyone to a livable wage would not have the
crippling effect on the economy we are told it would) have merit?
If Walmart Paid Its Employees a Living Wage, How Much Would Prices Go Up?
If Walmart Paid Its Employees a Living Wage, How Much Would Prices Go Up?
In what reality is a single part time job as an unskilled worker meant to
be a livable wage? I work a single part time job doing unskilled labor,
because i’m 22 and need to start somewhere, what’s the excuse for the
person who’s been doing it for 10 years and still only make $15 an hour?
Obviously the solution is to get rid of food stamps…. right?
Two birds. Dead.
*See how WalMart could work*
This is a *great* informational video
*What if WalMart Paid Its Employees a Living Wage?*
#ShameOnWalMart #RaiseTheMinimumWage
Great now the suits are going too see this. Raise prices a hair. Then
pocket that money for themselves.
You can prove anything with statistics. Even more so when you look at ONE
corporation, in ONE state and then try to extrapolate that against the
whole country. I know you mean well but the reality is far more complex
than this.
C’mon!
Why would Wal-Mart increase pay when the Government is giving employees
money to buy their votes? Government is the problem-and about getting rid
of minimum wage-that is completely idiotic. Then 20 million illegal
Mexicans will work for $3 a day, happily, and American citizens would be
forced to take lower wages-Abolishing minimum wage is an ignorant idea,
supported by the mentally impotent, or a business owner that wants to
exploit cheap labor that invades our nation every day-
Great Value Mac and Cheese from $68 cents a box to ↑ $69 cents a box…
they sure assume a lot of their numbers here…
Everyone here who is in favor of the minimum wage increase our idiots.
Wal-mart wants increased minimum wage so that it pushes not as well mom and
pop businesses out of business. The best minimum wage is no minimum wage.
Your video is full of irrelavent calculations, lack of including all facts
and bias. Wouldn’t this mean a store that pays even less than Walmart is
even worse? This sucks.
If Walmart Paid Its Employees a Living Wage, How Much Would Prices Go Up? If
Walmart Paid Its Employees a Living Wage, How Much Would Prices Go Up?
Supply and demand. Nobody is forcing people to work for Walmart. Walmart
gives people an option to work there. Walmart gives people an option to
shop there. What an employer and employee agrees on is between them two. If
you don’t like WalMart, simply avoid it. Make it go away. It isn’t gonna
happen because a lot of people benefit from Walmart. I ain’t gonna pay
double at Giant Eagle just to have my money go to greedy politicians. My
choice. I’m not stopping others from shopping at Giant Eagle. I can’t see
why anyone would want to shop there. Our town’s Walmart is always packed.
The number one employer in my state. Live and let live.
why the fuck do they think they can live comfortable with just 30 hours per
week? i used to work 72 hours a week just to pay my bills. the fucking
entitlement mentality is strong with americans. they want 15 dolllars just
for breathing.
Wow… I did not expect that at all
Another #Walmart subsidy revealed
#livingwage #foodstamps #poverty #taxes
This should be updated as obamacare would now force the employees to less
that 29 hours per week.
And that $13.00 per hour wouldn’t be a living wage
I personally don’t shop at Walmart but this video is shocking and is a must
watch:If Walmart Paid Its Employees a Living Wage, How Much Would Prices Go
Up? #Walmart #foodstamps
What about the rest of us that are not on minimum wage, I’m making 19 an
hour and will be closer and closer to what a walmart bagger makes even
tough my job is much more involved.
Walmart is not cheap like it use to be even the Walmart brand stuff is not
as cheap as brand name stuff
Very informatic
Walmart saves money on payroll and has a bonus of having those employees
probably spend the food stamps there. Double win. Plus the extra savings on
payroll expenses like taxes, 401k match. That puts it closer to 3%. Even if
you calculated that and 1.4% is correct, Walmart makes news raising prices
across the board, Buffett sells $5B of shares. Walmart pressures suppliers
to lower prices to share the burden resulting in the lowering of their
average wage and food stamp employees. By the year end, 1/3 of Walmart
workers quit because they earned less due to their new tax bracket. CEO
panics while skimming bankruptcy and gets a $400B bailout because Walmart
is “too big to fail”
The Walton Family, with an estimated net worth of $60 billion, can afford
to pay each of the 2.5 million employees $10,000.00 more per year for ten
consecutive years without adversely affecting their wealth, lifestyle, or
standard of living. This would resurrect the consumptive middle class.
How many billions does one need?
The answer is in the U.S. Tax Code and the proper governance therein.
Yes but if they raise there prices they couldn’t continue to take out Mom
and Pop stores, Ya’ll wanted to shop them, cause the could under cut the
the owner”s stores, so quit your crying.. You shopped this mess, Now Sleep
With It!
Meh, WM pays pretty much on par with discount with every other discount
retailer out there. I prepare taxes for a living, so I get a pretty good
idea who pays what, and KMart, and all the dollar stores don’t pay any more
(or less).
And they generally outpay–or at least out-benefit–mom-and-pops, who
almost never provide any health insurance whatsoever! WM provides mediocre
health care to all full(ish)-time employees.
Not saying it’s a worker’s paradise, but not any more sucky than everybody
else!
I am all for better wages, but as a student in commerce I just cant but
help outline the issues with this video.
1. Walmart works in an industry which is very near perfect competition.
Assuming Walmart increases their prices by 1%, the demand for their
products would decrease at a percentage much greater than 1%, because most
shoppers would switch to other stores. Why should i pay $2.65 for my
sandwich with my debt-ridden bank account (cuz university) when I can pay
$2.55 elsewhere? It adds up.
2. The cost to Walmart for that decrease in demand will be quite
significant. Much more than the soft numbers used in this video
3. Don’t forget Walmart is a corporation that is publicly listed. You think
the shareholders will stand for any decrease in profits?
You know a much easier way for the U.S to solve its financial problems?
Stop “spreading democracy” outside of the U.S. “Spreading democracy and
freedomzz” costs you guys a LOT of money.
Unionize that’ll solve the problem
$13.63 is in no way a livable income. I used to make $14.00 per hour and
had a hard time supporting myself. I can’t imagine doing it with kids.
And, as a privately owned company, they should strive to pay their
employees what they are worth. An employees worth is measured by his or her
level of education, work experience in a particilar field, and past work
performance. In other words, a company bases its pay scale on the business
revenue its employees are predicted and expected to bring in, by doing
their respective jobs effectively. Now, I ask you, why does the government
think it needs to decide how much a private employer pays its workers?
“sigh” c’mon now folks they wouldn’t raise it by one penny for there are
corrupted and greedy ass people. they would make it go up from $0.69 to
$1.25 just because they can. Don’t think everyone follows the rules of
math….and also why is everyone attacking Walmart? There are way worst
empires destroying this economy. *coughs* Apple and Google…….Col tan
mining illegal child work, that make cellphones!
You would not be happy with ONLY enough to stop food stamps?
Your ONLY going after WalMart the company that Democrats and Unions hate.
Sorry but THAT is against the law.
If WalMart *Fired all the single mothers and those that qualified for food
stamps*, would you be happy then? It would solve the problem as far as
WalMart is concerned.
WalMart could hire married women, students at home, retired and single men
all who don’t qualify for food stamps. If you qualify for food stamps for
a full year you’re FIRED.
This could work out well for WalMart and YOU would quit bitching.
You cannot pay people MORE just because they have a child and you sure as
hell cannot pay them more then the job is worth.
Does WalMart have to pay them more if they have 5 children?
WalMart made $16 Billion last year and has 2.2 Million employees.
WalMart does not MAKE enough to pay everyone a Living Wage EVEN if they
used all their income.
IF WalMart could make $5 BILLION more by raising it’s prices 1.5% they
would have done it long ago.
*Why not have the Mother and the Government go after the DEADBEAT DADS?*
It was the father and not WalMart that talked her into sex without birth
control.
How about NOT having a baby until you have*finished High School, are
married and can afford the baby?*
This would make too much sense and put the RESPONSIBILITY on the people
that were INVOLVED in making the babies.
If you think that too many young blacks are dropping out of High School
NOW, you have seen NOTHING if your going to pay $13.63 per hour for working
at WalMart.
Now if your going to GUARANTEE the Mother the same PAY why not only work an
AVERAGE of 20 hour or better yet 16 hours so she ONLY has to work 2 days to
make enough for a living.
Another thing that you Liberals and Democrats keep forgetting.
If WalMart is going to pay $13.31 per hour they are NOT going to keep most
of their workers.
They will fire all but the BEST. They will hire the College grads who
have stopped looking for a job and while Obama does not count them as
Unemployed, * I am sure they still think they are*.
But you’re still paying the workers anyways, whether in taxes or by buying
stuff at Walmart.
Walmart is just capitalist cancer.