The benefits cliff refers to when employees earn wage increases, but lose public benefits worth more as a result, leading to fewer Net Financial Resources for them and their families.
It is holding our community and our workforce back and enabling cyclical generational poverty.
m+
Americans receivemeans-based assistance
%
of public benefits go to non-elderlyemployed individuals
%
of residents in Greater Rochester liveabove the line of poverty, but below the
Self-Sufficiency Standard
Read more:
Additional resources to learn about the benefits cliff can be found below:
- Buffalo Niagara Partnership Benefits Cliff Calculator
- "Benefits Cliffs: The Financial Risks of Increased Earnings for Working Families" from the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation
- BenefitsCliff.com, a Leap Fund project
- Advancing Careers for Low-Income Families, from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
For more information about Greater Rochester Chamber’s efforts to address the benefits cliff, please contact our team at Chamber@GreaterRochesterChamber.com.