Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Low-wage employees report high levels of financial stress

Low-wage employees report high levels of financial stress

Financial stress is real for Rita Blalock, 56. In fact, it’s nearly constant companion these days.

Like many of America’s hourly workers, the $12 per hour she earns working at McDonald’s in Raleigh, N.C. doesn’t stretch far enough. “It’s a struggle to keep your head above water. It’s stressful, too,” Blalock tells Fortune.

Blalock has spent nearly a decade at the fast-food chain working nearly every station, she says—except in maintenance or as a cashier. “Some of [the customers] can be nasty. That’s probably why I’ve kept my job so long because I don’t interact with them. I’d rather stay in the back where it’s a little bit safer.”


But despite her time at the chain, Blalock says she’s struggled to keep her finances on track amid rising prices, particularly now with sky-high inflation. To help keep her expenses low, Blalock relies on the free meal she gets during her McDonald’s shift and takes the bus to and from work.

Public transportation presents its own challenges. “The buses here comes when they want to,” Blalock says, adding that sometimes that means she’s late to work. While that wouldn’t be an issue for most salaried employees, even seconds can matter for hourly workers. “That’s pressure. You’ve got to get there within the grace period, or you’re going to hear some flak. That’s something that you don’t want to start your day out with,” she says.

“A lot of people are just stressed out right now and…just don’t know what to do,” Blalock says. “So you go to work and you try to make everything happen, because that’s your only paycheck.”

Living on the edge financially not only affects workers like Blalock, but employers too, according to the Financial Health of Workers in Low-Wage Jobs Report released Thursday by the Financial Health Network. About 21% of workers in low-wage jobs report that their high levels of financial stress negatively affects their productivity and job performance.

Currently, about 44% of the entire U.S. workforce, about 53 million Americans between the ages of 18 and 64, falls into the category of low-wage workers, according to the Financial Health Network’s report. The report categorizes low-income jobs as those that pay less than $17 per hour, or up to $35,360 in an annual salary.

Unsurprisingly, low-wage workers like Blalock are twice as likely as the average employee to identify as financially vulnerable—grappling with most or all aspects of their finances. Most low-wage workers routinely struggle to save, acquire adequate insurance coverage, and pay for essentials like food and rent. Only about 13% of workers in low-wage jobs say they are financially healthy.

60% of workers in low-wage jobs cannot cover three months of expenses with short-term savings

At your current level of spending, how long could you and your household afford to cover expenses, if you had to live only off the money you have readily available, without withdrawing money from retirement accounts or borrowing from friends/family or credit card?


“Workers in low-wage jobs are constantly under financial stress that takes a toll on many aspects of their lives,” Beth Brockland, vice president of workplace solutions at the Financial Health Network, said in a statement.

The burden of struggling to manage their money can extend to their work day. Low-wage workers spend an average of about 1.3 hours a week dealing with their finances at work, including activities like contacting creditors, as well as managing their bank accounts. That adds up to about 66 hours of lost productivity annually from just finance-related issues.

“Employers have a lot to gain by investing in the financial health of their workers, not only to improve workers’ well-being but to foster more engaged and productive employees,” Brockland said.

Higher pay is only part of the equation. Although it’s legal to pay workers just $7.25 in more than 20 states—the U.S. hasn’t raised the federal minimum wage in 13 years—only about 1.5% of all hourly workers make that little, according to a 2021 report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Blalock has worked for McDonad’s in North Carolina for nearly 10 years. Most of that time, her pay was about $8 an hour. But over the last two years, she's received a series of raises that bumped her up to $12 per hour. (North Carolina’s hourly minimum wage is still $7.25.)

Yet while wages have increased overall for workers across the U.S. in recent months, benefits like health insurance and retirement plans are still scarce. Even a stable work schedule can be a huge help to hourly workers. As of fall 2021, nearly two-thirds of workers still get less than two weeks’ notice about their upcoming work schedule, according to the Shift Project. And yet research shows unpredictable work schedules can lead to income volatility that makes it harder to budget for rent, food, and utility payments.

A third of the low-wage workers surveyed by the Financial Health Network report their employer doesn’t offer any employer-sponsored retirement plan. Another 20% are unsure if their company offers retirement options.

When it comes to health insurance, just a third of low-wage workers get coverage from their employer. Among those who aren’t utilizing employer-based health insurance, more than half say it’s because they’re not eligible. And nearly half of those who are eligible say they can’t take advantage because the deductibles and copays are too expensive.

Investing in the financial health of their workers could be a win-win for employers. Not only could it boost productivity and performance, but it also helps with retention. Workers who have these types of financial benefits are much more likely to report wanting to stay at their job for at least the next year, according to the survey.

But it could be have an even bigger impact on hourly workers, especially when it comes to access to health insurance. Blalock works 35 hours a week but she doesn't qualify for benefits like health insurance. “For McDonald’s, there are no benefits, period,” Blalock says.

McDonald's did not respond to Fortune's request for comment, but benefits and wages do vary depending on whether a location is owned by corporate or a franchisee.

When Blalock needed cataract surgery last year, she had to rely on a Medicaid program and a local medical charity to pay for the procedure. She postponed having the operation done for years because of the cost, and as result, she's now dealing with partial blindness.

“Sometimes you’ve just got to send up a prayer up and just pray about it. But it's still stressful,” Blalock says.

Although Blalock has considered trying to find a new job, as a member of Raise Up (the Southern branch of the Fight for $15), she’s reluctant to move on without seeing a $15 minimum wage come to McDonald’s. About 89% of McDonald's workers make less than $15 per hour, according to the Shift Project's April 2022 brief.

“If I can, I am going to stick with this until the end,” Blalock says. “It’s my passion right now.”

Yet the stress and toil of working a low-wage job does weigh heavily—even if she tries to push it down. “I'm a happy person, and I like fun and music. I enjoy people,” Blalock says. “So they see this of me [and think] this is the way it is all the time. Trust me, it’s not.”

“You have to put up a front for people sometimes to not cry in front of them.”

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
Wave of Complaints Against Apple Over iPhone 17 Pro’s Scratch Sensitivity
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Trump Says Ukraine Can Fully Restore Borders with NATO Backing
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Germany Weighs Excluding France from Key European Fighter Jet Programme
Cyberattack Disrupts Check-in and Boarding Systems at Major European Airports
Björn Borg Breaks Silence: Memoir Reveals Addiction, Shame and Cancer Battle
When Extremism Hijacks Idealism: How the Baader-Meinhof Gang Emerged and Fell
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
Trump Orders $100,000 Fee on H-1B Visas and Launches ‘Gold Card’ Immigration Pathway
France’s Looming Budget Crisis and Political Fracture Raise Fears of Becoming Europe’s “Sick Man”
Three Russian MiG-31 Jets Breach Estonian Airspace in ‘Unprecedentedly Brazen’ NATO Incident
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
×