A new report dug into the role low wages for workers are playing in the nation’s persistent affordability crisis.
As Alabama families focus on the rising costs of essentials like housing, groceries and health care, companies like Amazon and Walmart are making their CEOs and shareholders richer, according to the new data, and front line workers are struggling.
Sarah Anderson, director of the Global Economy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, said many workers get paychecks so small they can qualify for programs like SNAP and Medicaid. She argued the low-wage business model amounts to a form of corporate welfare paid for by U.S. taxpayers.
"Twenty of the largest and most profitable corporations in this country are not paying their workers enough to meet basic necessities," Anderson stressed. "Many of them are having to rely on public assistance just to get by."
In the new report, titled “America’s 20 Largest Low-Wage Employers and the Affordability Crisis,” none of the companies listed pay their front line workers enough to afford the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment. At seven companies on the list, one year’s wages aren't enough to pay the average price of a used car. Meanwhile, the report said the pay of the average CEO topped $18 million.
The corporations are not keeping wages low because of tight profit margins. Between 2019 and 2024, companies spent a combined $260 billion buying back their own stock. Anderson noted buybacks can temporarily increase stock values, which benefits executives and shareholders, but does nothing for workers' paychecks. In 2024 alone, the companies spent more than $32 billion on buybacks.
"If these companies had taken the money that they put into stock buybacks and put it into worker pay, they could have lifted a million workers up to the level that you would need to be able to afford a two-bedroom apartment," Anderson explained.
Alabama still uses the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, which has not increased in 17 years. Workers' advocates argue that raising it would help thousands of people afford basic necessities.
In January, Sen. Robert Stewart, D-Selma, filed Senate Bill 171, which would establish a state minimum wage of $10 per hour for businesses with more than 50 employees. If passed, the law would take effect Jan. 1, 2027.
Source: Public News Service
