Government Shutdown Puts Hundreds of Thousands of Middle-Class, Low-Wage Workers at Risk

“Unexpectedly losing income is going to be difficult for workers across the board,” Kate Gallagher Robbins, senior policy analyst at the National Women’s Law Center, told RH Reality Check. “Minimum-wage workers are in the most difficult situation in terms of having a cushion that will protect them from this kind of income shock. There are also a lot of young people in D.C. who are just out of college, just getting a master’s degree, who are middle-class, but their incomes may not be that large relative to their expenses. Losing salary for an indefinite period is a frightening position for anyone to be in.”