A growing number of Amazon and gig economy workers earn so little that they rely on public assistance to put food on the table and obtain health coverage, a Government Accountability Office study released Wednesday found. The number of Amazon employees receiving food stamps and Medicaid in September nearly tripled since the GAO’s previous report in 2020.

Key Findings

Nearly 12,350 Amazon staffers were enrolled in food stamps and nearly 11,350 were covered by Medicaid in the states GAO examined. Rideshare and food delivery companies are now among the top employers of recipients in the two safety net programs in several states.

GAO analyzed data from 11 states where nearly one-fifth of Americans reside. It found that Walmart was one of the top employers of workers receiving these benefits in all the states examined, as it was in 2020. Meanwhile, the number of FedEx staffers on Medicaid more than tripled and on food stamps nearly doubled over the period.

Response from Amazon

Amazon said the conclusions drawn from the report are wrong, arguing that its pay scale is among the best in the industry and that its regular, full-time employees have access to health insurance on their first day for $5 a week for individual coverage.

“Eligibility for both SNAP and Medicaid is based on total household income and family size, not individual wages or benefits – so employers that offer part-time options for those who want them, like we do, are likely to have more people who are eligible,” Rachael Lighty, an Amazon spokesperson, said in a statement.

Original reporting: KTVZ (Central Oregon) — read the source article.