According to analysis by American Public Media’s Marketplace, spending just one penny more for a box of macaroni and cheese might mean some Walmart workers would no longer need food stamps to make ends meet.
Huffington Post reports as many as 15% of the company’s employees in Ohio are currently receiving foods stamps. The American Public Media’s Marketplace report estimates that Walmart needs an additional $4.8 billion to lift its average wages in order for all of its workers to be able to discontinue public assistance.
Furthermore, the Marketplace report says Walmart workers cost the government roughly $300 million a year in food-stamp costs.
Says Huffington post: “A single 300-employee Walmart store may cost taxpayers anywhere between $904,542 and nearly $1.75 million per year, a study by Democrats in the U.S. Committee on Education and the Workforce found. In any event, Marketplace estimated that Walmart would need to raise average wages for low-level employees from $8.81 to $13.83 to get its workers off food stamps. And that would cost, in total, $4.8 billion.â€
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