Where the strikes are happening, according to labor group Fast Food Forward
(zoom in for regional detail)

Steep hidden costs of low wages

But a recent study by the UC Berkeley Labor Center and University of Illinois makes the case that the public cost of these low-wage jobs is deceptively steep.

In an analysis of core, front-line fast-food workers, (defined as non-managerial employees working at least 11 hours per week for 27 or more weeks per year), the report calculated an average nationwide wage of $8.69 an hour, which at full-time employment is far below the cost of living just about anywhere in the country, resulting in high poverty rates among workers' families It also found that only 13 percent of these workers receive health care benefits from their employers.

As a result of low wages and lack of benefits, more than half of families of front-line fast-food workers are enrolled in one or more public assistance programs, costing taxpayers nearly $7 billion a year, according to the study. Of that, nearly $4 billion is spent on public health care costs and more than $1 billion goes toward food stamp benefits

"The fast-food industry stands out for both its low wages and its paucity of full-time work jobs," the study's authors write. "As a result, annual earnings in the fast-food industry are well below the income needed for self-sufficiency."

Not just teenagers flipping burgers anymore

Teenagers flipping burgers as a part-time, after-school gig is no longer the industry norm. Lingering unemployment has led to an increasing number of older workers filling fast-food jobs. The average age of fast-food workers is now about 29, according to the American Community Survey, and roughly a quarter of workers are parents and more than a third have second jobs.

The original McBudget (courtesy of Forbes)

McDonald's recently took heat after labor organizers published screen grabs from McResourceline.com, a corporate website that offered financial tips to cash-strapped workers (see video below). The site, which has since been taken down, counseled employees to conserve costs by doing things like breaking their meals into pieces resulting in "eating less and still feeling full,” taking two vacations a year to reduce heart attack risk, and making additional income by selling “unwanted possessions on eBay or Craigslist."

In response, McDonald's argued that the site was a well-intentioned effort to help its workers, and that the suggestions were taken out of context.

The company also provides an online budgeting guide for its workers, created in conjunction with Visa. A initial sample "McBudget" published this summer went viral online because it failed to include basic necessities like food, clothing, childcare and gas. And it earmarked only $20 a month for health-insurance costs.

A video published on the labor organizing site lowpayisnotok.org, featuring screen grabs from the now defunct McResourceline.com.

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