Low wages in the fast-food industry lead those workers to utilize $7 billion in federal benefits including $1 billion in food stamps each year, according to new reports released by the University of California at Berkeley’s Center for Labor Research and Education and the National Employment Law Project.

• University of California, Berkeley Report — Fast Food, Poverty Wages: The Public Cost of Low-Wage Jobs in the Fast-Food Industry
• National Employment Law Project Report — Super-Sizing Public Costs: How Low Wages at Top Fast-Food Chains Leave Taxpayers Footing the Bill