For Thousands In MA, A Job Still Means Relying On Food Stamps

First of a three-part series. This story was reported by Jimmy Bentley, Jenna Fisher, Neal McNamara and Alex Newman.

MASSACHUSETTS — Some of the largest companies in the world employ the most people in Massachusetts receiving federal food assistance benefits, underscoring problems like low wages, low hours and a high cost of living.

The state Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) provided Patch with five years worth of data naming the companies that employ the most workers receiving benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Companies like Walmart, Stop & Shop, Target and Dollar Tree topped lists in each year of data we reviewed.

About 20 percent of all households that receive SNAP benefits have at least one working-age adult, according to the DTA. Among those households, the average SNAP benefit is $228 per month.

The companies on the list say the share of their workforce receiving food benefits is relatively low, and that there are internal opportunities for employees to reach higher pay levels.

"Stop & Shop is proud to provide employment for 22,000 part-time and full-time associates across the state of Massachusetts," the company said in a statement. "We offer competitive wages and benefits and are committed to advancement from within, filling 80 percent of open positions with Stop & Shop associates."

But experts and local elected officials say the companies need to do more to ensure employees can get by without government assistance.

"These companies ought to be able to pay their workers a decent wage," said U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Worcester), known for his focus on food insecurity issues. "They don’t because they know they’ll have their wages subsidized with programs like SNAP."

Elaine Waxman, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute who studies food benefits, said wages are not always the full picture. Workers also need secure schedules to make sure hourly pay adds up to a living wage.

"Many jobs in service sectors like food also have unstable hours or don’t provide enough weekly hours for people to be able to meet their needs without assistance," Waxman said. "So we need strategies to do better on both sides of the equation — like raising the minimum wage and incentivizing stable scheduling practices."

Top companies

The DTA provided Patch with data on the top 100 companies ranked by how many employees received SNAP benefits between 2015 and 2020. People receive SNAP benefits who worked at those top 100 companies fluctuated each year, but ranged from about 18,000 in 2015-16 on the low end to more than 26,000 in 2018-19.

Walmart topped the list in each 12-month period of DTA data. In 2020, the company had about 1,465 workers receiving SNAP benefits, close to 13 percent of the company's Massachusetts workforce.

Other top companies typically included Target, TJX Companies, CVS and Dollar General. In the year ending October 2020, Dollar General had the second-highest number of employees receiving SNAP benefits with 1,173, and Amazon was third with 1,089, according to state data.

Plenty of local businesses are among the top 100, including Market Basket, UMass, and the cities of Boston and Springfield. Independent contractors working for services like Instacart, DoorDash and Lyft also made the list. There were 808 Uber drivers receiving benefits in the 12-month period ending in October, down slightly from 837 between 2018 and 2019.

The state's largest employer, Mass General Brigham, formerly Partners HealthCare, was not among the top 100 in any of the data provided by DTA. The nonprofit healthcare provider has about 77,000 full- and part-time workers, according to the Boston Business Journal.

Companies like Dunkin' that sell franchises to local owners sought to distance their brands from the list. A Dunkin' spokesperson said there were about 1,100 franchise locations in the state, but would not say how many locations in the state are owned by the parent Dunkin' Brands company.

“All Dunkin’ restaurants are individually owned and operated by independent franchisees, small business owners who are solely responsible for making their own employment decisions such as wages and benefits they offer their employees," Dunkin' said in a statement. The company was recently acquired by Inspire Brands, which also operates the Arby's, Buffalo Wild Wings, Jimmy John's and Sonic chains.

Some companies have raised pay amid a national conversation about increasing the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 per hour. In February, Walmart increased its starting wage to at least $11 per hour. Costco is boosting its minimum pay to $16 nationwide.

A Walmart spokesperson said the majority of the company's workers don't receive assistance, and that the company offers internal advancement for better pay and benefits. Walmart says its average wage in Massachusetts for full- and part-time workers is about $14.95, and $15.25 nationally.

“If not for the employment access Walmart and other companies provide, many more people would be dependent on government assistance," Walmart spokeswoman Anne Hatfield said. "A small percentage of our workforce comes to us on public assistance, and we remove employment barriers and create opportunities for individuals that too many overlook."

Asked about employees receiving SNAP, Framingham-based TJX Companies said it promotes employees from within, offering them the chance to boost pay. The company has about 19,316 full- and part-time employees in Massachusetts across its retail stores, which include TJ Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods. About 4 percent of the company's workforce received SNAP in the year ending October 2020.

"We’re pleased that in 2020, 64 percent of managerial positions in stores and field offices were filled by internal promotions," a TJX spokesperson said. "Additionally, we’ll continue to monitor wages in Massachusetts and across the U.S., as we always do, and make market-by-market adjustments as appropriate.”

Top five employers in Massachusetts by number of employees receiving SNAP benefits

2019-20: 25,719 in top 100

• Walmart 1,465
• Dollar General Corporation 1,173
• Amazon 1,089
• Uber 808
• Target 805

2018-19: 26,334 in top 100

• Walmart 1,502
• Dunkin' 1,115
• Dollar Tree 1,069
• TJX 945
• Stop & Shop 926

2017-18: 24,226 in top 100

• Walmart 1,533
• Dunkin' 1,233
• Stop & Shop 985
• TJX 866
• Dollar Tree 850

2016-17: 21,702 in top 100

• Walmart 1,675
• Dunkin' 1,162
• Stop & Shop 939
• CVS 759
• TJX 744

2015-16: 18,290 in top 100

• Walmart 1,536
• Dunkin’ 1,021
• Stop & Shop 942
• CVS 652
• TJX 649

Who gets SNAP

About 902,000 people — one in eight state residents — were receiving some type of SNAP benefit as of January, according to the DTA. Out of the 535,000 households receiving SNAP benefits, more than 68 percent have a total income of less than 100 percent of the federal poverty level, which can range from about $13,000 for an individual to up to $26,500 for a family of four.

The SNAP program carries some work requirements, but most recipients do not necessarily need to hold a job. During the pandemic, the federal government also suspended some work rules and SNAP time limits.

Megan, a former Walmart worker in central Massachusetts in her 60s, qualifies for SNAP due to her disability, household size and because she worked less than full-time earning minimum wage. The Walmart store she worked at employed more than 200 people, and many of her coworkers were also working fewer than 40 hours per week, she said.

"I know some of them would love to work full-time, but Walmart has cut back," she said, referring to the pandemic.

A close relative of Megan began working at the same Walmart in early 2020. He started out at 16 hours per week, and stayed on that schedule until the fall, when he was boosted to a full-time position.

Megan lost her job, she said, because she couldn't carry items related to her job — but she wanted to stay at Walmart because she liked the customers. Now, she works at home repairing computers, and gets by because her husband and son both work full time at a large retail store. But money is still tight — and the family still qualifies for SNAP.

"There are plenty of employees there who are struggling, and they really have to resort to SNAP or some kind of financial assistance," Megan said.

Pandemic factor

Jill has worked for a school system in the Blackstone Valley as a teacher's assistant for more than 15 years. Although she didn't lose her job in the pandemic, Jill couldn't work over the summer due to school shutdowns. After failing to get unemployment insurance benefits — she falls in a category of workers who don't qualify — she discovered she made little enough to qualify for SNAP benefits.

When she began working again in the fall, she still qualified for a benefit of $180 per month, partly due to increases in SNAP distribution related to federal stimulus during the pandemic. Her benefits will drop significantly once the stimulus boost runs out.

Thousands of new residents began receiving SNAP benefits during the pandemic. The 535,000 households in Massachusetts receiving SNAP benefits as of January is a 20 percent increase from before the pandemic hit, according to a DTA spokesperson. The pandemic bump began in April and had not come back to pre-pandemic levels as of December.

At the same time, the number of people receiving SNAP benefits at the top 100 companies receded from 26,294 between October 2018 and October 2019 to 25,719 in the year ending October 2020. Massachusetts experienced a big spike in unemployment during the pandemic and was at one point No. 1 in the nation with 16.6 percent of residents out of work.

SNAP benefits have helped Jill get through lean times during the pandemic. But it's also troubling for her. She takes pride in her work helping children learn, so she doesn't understand why her labor isn't enough to live without state assistance.

Jill's pandemic-boosted SNAP benefits will end June 30. For now, she's cutting back on food shopping to save the benefits to get through the summer.

"It's embarrassing that I work full time, that I work hard, but the pay is so low that I'm still eligible for assistance," she said.

Next: An 'Indecent' Problem: MA Rep. Proposes Fixes For SNAP Workers

The second part of this series features U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern talking about ways to reduce the number of workers who qualify for SNAP.