Recently Walmart employees in Oklahoma City started a food drive for their coworkers at the store. The food drive has generated some controversy and made some people question Walmart as a company. Do Walmart employees make enough to put food on the table, to stay above the poverty line?
The poverty line for 2014 was set at $23,850 a year for a family of four. According to the CEO of the company, the majority of Walmart employees make less than 25,000 dollars a year. A large number of Walmart employees are on monetary aid programs, like food stamps and welfare because of the low wages. Public assistance costs for the companies employees last year added up to 6.2 billion dollars.
The wages are kept low to keep Walmart's prices lower than the competition's, but if the wage that an employee is being paid is not enough to get food on the table for Thanksgiving maybe the low prices--and wages--need to get a little higher.
Henry -- a very important topic! But a) where are your sources (quotes, analysis)? and b) what contradictions do you see between American capitalism (as practiced) and the American dream? Might be interesting to explore...
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