Poverty Can Be Closer Than You Think
Oct 29, 2015
Work injuries and illnesses contribute to the pressing issue of income inequality: they force working families out of the middle class and into poverty, and keep the families of lower-wage workers from entering the middle class.1 For working families already struggling to meet basic necessities and set aside some savings, a work injury to a primary wage earner can be especially devastating.1 There are also less tangible effects that are important but impossible to monetize.1 Workplace injuries can diminish self-esteem and self-confidence, increase stress between spouses, children and other family members, and strain relations with friends, colleagues and supervisors. These indirect costs can translate into tangible economic costs, including lower wages.1,[i]
In reality, the costs of workplace injury and illness are borne primarily by injured workers, their families, and taxpayer-supported safety-net programs. State legislatures and courts have made it increasingly difficult for injured workers to receive the payments for lost wages and medical expenses that they deserve.[ii] During this time period of litigation the injured worker gets nothing. See figure 1
[i] Keogh JP, Nuwayhid I, Gordon JL, Gucer PW. The impact of occupational injury on injured worker and family: Outcomes of upper extremity cumulative trauma disorders in Maryland
workers. American Journal of Industrial Medicine 2000; 38:498–506
[ii] Spieler, EA, Burton JF. The lack of correspondence between work-related disability and receipt of workers’ compensation benefits. American Journal of Industrial Medicine 2012; 55:487-505
