Some of the most common occupations in the United States have low wages, unpredictable hours and few benefits, says a report by the think tank Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Most workers who participate in food stamps, formally named the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), are in service, administrative support and sales occupations, it says.
“Workers turn to SNAP to supplement low and fluctuating pay and to help them get by during spells of unemployment,” says the report. Many workers collect food stamps for part of the year and leave the program when their income rises. “Three-quarters of the working poor who were eligible for SNAP at some time during the year were eligible for only part of the year, an Agriculture Department study found.”
The center said the share of households with earnings has grown since the 1990s, when it was 19 percent, to 32 percent of households in 2015. Among households with children and an able-bodied adult, the rate was 60 percent. A portion of food stamp enrollment is elderly and handicapped individuals.
“Occupations that pay low wages are numerous and many are growing … Six of the 20 largest occupations in the country (retail salespersons, cashiers, food preparation and serving workers, waiters and waitresses, stock clerks, and personal care aides), which together employed about 1 in 8 American workers, had median annual wages close to or below the poverty threshold for a family of three in 2016,” says the report.