Amazon workers say they struggle to afford food, rent

But firm describes study on US employees’ economic well-being as deeply flawed’

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Five years after Amazon.com raised wages to US$15 (S$20) an hour, half of warehouse workers surveyed by researchers say they struggle to afford enough food or a place to live.

The national study, published on May 15 by the University of Illinois Chicago's Centre for Urban Economic Development, asked US employees about their economic well-being, including whether they skipped meals, went hungry or were worried about being able to make rent or mortgage payments.

Fifty-three per cent of respondents reported that they had experienced one or more forms of food insecurity in the prior three months, and 48 per cent experienced one or more forms of housing insecurity.

Workers who said they took unpaid time off after getting hurt on the job were more likely to report trouble paying their bills, the researchers found.

"It's not necessarily that Amazon's an outlier," said Dr Sanjay Pinto, who co-authored the study with Dr Beth Gutelius. Still, "they're certainly not taking the lead in creating family-sustaining jobs".

In a statement, Amazon spokes man Steve Kelly called the methodology "deeply flawed" and said the company had tried to raise its concerns with the study's authors but never heard back.