Eight million mostly female workers and their families rely on low-wage jobs supported by the government's $1.3tn annual spending on goods and services, according to a new report.
The report by Demos, which examines how the federal contracting system contributes to inequality, found that 21 million people – 7% of the US population – rely on low-wage jobs in the federally dependent workforce. Demos is a liberal public policy thinktank that focuses on economic issues.
President Obama, who called for a “year of action" on inequality in his state of the union address, recently passed an executive order that raised the minimum wage to $10.10 for hundreds of thousands of federally-contracted workers.
