Study: Fast Food Workers More Likely To Be On Publicly Subsidized Healthcare

A UC Berkeley study recently looked into the use of public assistance by fast food workers.It found that between 2007 and 2011, about a quarter of California’s fast food workers received Medi-Cal, and another 40 percent were uninsured.

Ken Jacobs with the UC Berkeley Labor Center says that was before the Affordable Care Act expansions. He says now, it’s likely that more fast food workers are getting publically subsidized care.

“Fast food workers are more likely to have coverage through Medicaid than the workforce as a whole, and much more likely to be on public assistance programs than the workforce as a whole," says Jacobs. "And that makes sense because it’s a low wage workforce and many of the workers are working part time.”

Jacobs says the high turnover rate in the fast food industry also makes it difficult for workers to secure health insurance.