I know I shouldn't be but I'm amazed at how many articles like this that come up on science sites are ignored by the MSM:
(by Robert Sanders at Phys.org)
While the U.S. economy rebounds, persistent low wages are costing taxpayers approximately $153 billion every year in public support to working families, including $25 billion at the state level, according to a new report from the University of California, Berkeley, Center for Labor Research and Education.
The study provides state-by-state numbers of the costs for all of us of squeezing profits out of those at the bottom of the economy.
The UC Berkeley researchers also report that:
On average, 52 percent of state public assistance spending supports working families, with costs as high as $3.7 billion in California, $3.3 billion in New York and $2 billion in Texas.
Reliance on public assistance can be found among workers in a diverse range of occupations, including frontline fast-food workers (52%), childcare workers (46%), home care workers (48%) and even part-time college faculty (25%).
It seems to finally be dawning on politicians, at least in Blue states, that the cost to the many is not worth providing profits to the few:
The researchers note that raising wages would result in significant savings to state and federal governments. In recent months, the substantial cost of low wages has prompted elected officials to take action. California, Colorado, Maine, Oregon and Washington are considering increasing the minimum wage to $12 or higher. In Connecticut, a proposal currently moving through the state legislature would fine large companies that pay low wages in an effort to recoup the cost these companies impose on taxpayers.
Read more at:
http://phys.org/...