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 A Wal-Mart wage doesn’t go very far -- even at Wal-Mart
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Monthly cost of subsistence when as many items as possible were purchased at Wal-Mart Supercenter, Salina, Kansas


Expenses


"Living Wage" campaigns across the country have attempted to determine and advocate for the wage level that can provide a decent life for working families.

We had a more modest goal. For a hypothetical family of three - an adult and two children aged 4 and 12 - we computed monthly expenses for the bare essentials of life, buying as much as possible of what we needed at Salina’s Wal-Mart Supercenter:

Housing: We used the figure of $485 per month given for Saline County in comprehensive studies by Gibbons et al. (see below ) for housing and all utilities, except telephone, for a family of three. They based their estimate on data from the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development. The Gibbons studies applied a standard of need that they termed "adequate but austere." We assumed telephone use from pay phones only when absolutely necessary, allowing ten local calls and one 60-minute Wal-Mart long-distance phone card ($4.72) per month.

In her book Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America , Barbara Ehrenreich tried to live on low wages from Wal-Mart and other employers.  Her biggest problem was in getting together enough money for deposits on housing and utilities. She often ended up paying too-costly daily rates at motels. We assumed that our family had already paid deposits.

Food: We followed the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture’s "low-cost food plan" (see below ) for an adult, a 4-year-old, and a 12-year old. At the local Wal-Mart, we identified the items with the lowest per-pound cost that would fulfill the plan’s nutritional requirements. Often, the cheapest item available was Wal-Mart’s "Great Value" store brand. You wouldn’t want to eat from this unexciting menu day after day and month after month. But it is important to note that if you wanted to vary your diet, just about any deviation from this plan would add some cost.

The cost of this food plan, after adding 7% sales tax (Note: the Wal-Mart employee discount doesn't apply to food), comes to $248 per month. Back in 1995, the Gibbons study determined that $364 was needed to feed a family like this one in Saline County. We decided to attribute our much lower figure (66% of the Gibbons estimate, even without accounting for inflation) to Wal-Mart’s Always Low Prices, the employee discount, and our very thrifty choices of food.

Transportation: Salina has no public transportation. Wal-Mart lies at the far southern edge of the city. An employee living in inexpensive housing near the center of town would have about an 8-mile round trip to work. We added another 100 miles per month, a seeming minimum for essential movement within Salina, with no out-of-county travel. On the day we visited Wal-Mart, the price at its gas pumps was $1.45 per gallon. Assuming the family car had average U.S. gas consumption of 21 miles per gallon, our monthly gas cost for driving eight miles each workday plus another hundred miles a month would be $19.05.

We assumed that the family owned an older car outright and made no payments. The Flinthills Living Wage Coalition in nearby Manhattan, Kansas estimated expenses for a 1991 Ford Fiesta to be $96 per year, or $8 per month, for taxes and tags; $55 per month for insurance; and $25 for maintenance and repairs. Because we would be servicing the car at Wal-Mart - widely regarded as the cheapest place to get repairs done or to buy tires, batteries, and filters - we reduced the maintenance/repair item to $20. Our total for transportation (with travel to and from Wal-Mart and nowhere else): $12 gas + $8 taxes + $55 insurance + $20 maintenance = $95.

Childcare: Without financial assistance, full-time childcare for the four-year-old would consume around half of our Wal-Mart salary, but luckily, the State of Kansas covers almost all childcare costs for a family with this size and income. They have to pay only a very small share of childcare costs: $22 per month.

Medical: At approximately $167 per month out of the employee’s paycheck (according to the United Food and Commercial Workers), Wal-Mart’s family health insurance plan is so expensive that fewer than 40% of employees enroll. But with financial catastrophe looming in the event of a serious accident or illness, we decide to enroll. And based on the Flinthills Coalition’s estimates and an assumption of no major accidents or injury, we added $11 per month average out-of-pocket medical costs. Total: $178

Miscellaneous: Here the Gibbons study included items such as clothing, postage, laundry, paper goods, cleaning supplies, school supplies, and personal care products, totaling $175 for Saline County. It s hard to make up a Wal-Mart shopping list for this category, since the items needed will vary widely from month to month. Instead, we took 66% of the $175 figure, or $113 for this category, on the assumption that Wal-Mart’s low prices and employee discount would allow us to save as much as we did on food.  How far would $113 go at our Supercenter?  A table below lists the prices we found for items that a family might need during a typical summer month, none of them over $10 apiece. The total cost, at , blew the Miscellaneous budget.

The Flinthills Coalition allows $376 for this category, including additional features of everyday life such as replacement and repair of appliances, children’s holiday and birthday gifts, a newspaper subscription, renter’s insurance, and parent recreation/free time. In an attempt to keep within the budget dictated by a Wal-Mart paycheck, we omitted all of these items, which are normally considered part of a living-wage requirement.

Evening out: In our only deviation from strict subsistence, we followed the lead of many living wage campaigns and allow for one meal out per month for the family. Of course, we went to the McDonald’s located conveniently inside the Wal-Mart Supercenter. Two Big Macs, a McNugget Happy Meal, two Cokes, and two large orders of french fries came to $13.80.

Total monthly expenses: $1162


Income

According to the personnel manager at Salina’s Wal-Mart, the starting hourly wage for a cashier is $6.25. We must deduct 48 cents for Social Security and Medicare taxes. The income is low enough that Federal or State income tax won’t have to be deducted. Working a full-time, 176-hour month, then, would yield a take-home pay of $1016.

Total monthly income: $1016

At this income level, the family should receive a $4140 Earned Income Tax Credit (for the year 2002) from the Federal government, amounting to $345 in additional monthly resources available to us. That would get them above bare subsistence by $225.

Data sources

Flinthills Living Wage Coalition:

http://www.mapj.org/deter2000.html

And

Gibbons, Jacque E.; Bratsberg, Bernt; and Bloomquist, Leonard E., Institute for Behavioral Research, Kansas State University, Proposed Standard of Need for the State of Kansas, April 1996, prepared for the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services.

Gibbons, Jacque E.; Bratsberg, Bernt; and Bloomquist, Leonard E., Kansas Standard of Need and Self-Sufficiency Study, 1999: Final Report, prepared for the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services.

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USDA Low Cost Food Plan and food-price data collected at Wal-Mart Supercenter, Salina, Kansas, on May 24, 2003:
 
                                          Pounds per week recommended by USDA   
USDA food category

Grains

Bread
Breakfast cereals
Rice
Pasta


Flour


Snacks and cookies


Vegetables

Potato products


Green, yellow, other veg.











Citrus fruits, berries, juices

Noncitrus fruits and juices

 
Milk products

Whole milk, yogurt, cream

Lower fat milk, yogurt

Cheese

Milk drinks and desserts

Meats

Beef, pork, lamb

Chicken, turkey


Fish products

Bacon, sausage, lunch meat

Eggs

Dry beans, lentils, nuts


Other foods

Table fats, oils, dressing


Gravies, sauces, condiments

Fruit drinks, soft drinks

Sugars, sweets, candies

 Items priced  at Wal-Mart



white loaf bread
raisin bran

spaghetti
elbow macaroni

white
whole wheat

club crackers
cookies




potatoes
frozen french fries

bell pepper
broccoli
lettuce
green beans
carrots
cabbage
yellow squash
green peas
tomatoes
onion
corn


orange juice


apples
grape juice




whole milk


2% milk
yogurt

cheddar

ice cream




ground beef

chicken
turkey

frozen fish sticks

bacon
bologna

eggs

dry pinto beans
peanut butter




cooking oil
mayonnaise
salad dressing

mustard
catsup

canned soda


sugar

 Price per pound




0.63
1.60

0.64
1.28

0.16
0.41

2.50
1.50




0.30
0.69

0.44
1.34
0.77
0.96
0.75
0.48
0.96
0.46
1.49
0.79
0.44


0.32


0.50
0.29




0.32


0.31
1.52

2.76

0.63




1.18

0.67
1.98

2.10

2.50
1.25

0.52

0.45
1.26




0.60
0.73
1.24

0.67
1.27

0.14


0.37

 Child age 4




0.86
0.63

0.16
0.17

0.16
0.15

0.12
0.13




1.14
0.38

0.11
0.11
0.11
0.11
0.11
0.11
0.11
0.11
0.11
0.11
0.11


0.47


0.72
0.72




2.38


3.49
0.50

0.31

0.52




0.69

0.45
0.15

0.09

0.18
0.17

0.35

0.34
0.33




0.07
0.07
0.06

0.06
0.06

3.64


0.53

 Boy age 12




1.17
1.44

0.60
0.60

0.25
0.24

0.09
0.10




1.07
0.35

0.38
0.38
0.38
0.38
0.38
0.38
0.38
0.38
0.38
0.38
0.38


2.60


1.15
1.15




1.44


7.14
1.02

0.29

0.87




1.17

1.91
0.64

0.62

0.25
0.24

0.33

0.13
0.13




0.13
0.13
0.12

0.13
0.12

5.02


0.36

 Adult female




1.33
0.35

0.58
0.57

0.24
0.24

0.11
0.10




1.16
0.38

0.35
0.35
0.35
0.35
0.35
0.35
0.35
0.35
0.35
0.35
0.35


2.05


0.94
0.94




1.27


4.42
0.63

0.29

0.23




1.39

1.38
0.46

0.61

0.12
0.12

0.49

0.16
0.15




0.13
0.13
0.12

0.11
0.11

6.65


0.39

Items fitting Gibbons' "Miscellaneous" category, priced at Wal-Mart May 24, 2003:

Baby sunscreen 7.87
Cat food
 3.58
Motor oil, 1 qt.
 0.84
2 light bulbs
 1.08
Hammer
 9.97
Paint, 1 gallon
 9.96
Paint brush
 6.47
Duct tape
 2.58
Batteries, 4 size D
 4.87
Kid's lunch box
 6.84
12 canning jars
 6.85
Umbrella
 4.88
Girl's swimsuit
 6.88
Towels, 2
 5.96
Sandals
 6.83
Bra
 5.88
Boy's pants
 10.00
Boy's shirt
 5.00
Socks, 6 pair
 3.75
Notebook paper, 100 sheets
 0.97
Transparent tape
 0.88
Ballpoint pen
 0.44
Plain envelopes, 70
 0.94
Cookie sheet
 4.76
Pectin for jam-making,
6 oz.
 2.87
Dishwashing soap, 42 oz
 1.47
Laundry soap, 40 loads
 3.00
Toothpaste
 0.97
Shaving creme
 0.84
Band Aids, 30
 0.96
Toilet paper, 3 rolls
 1.21
Total
 129.40
Total after 10% employee discount and sales tax


$124.32


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