You’re working harder, getting raises—even taking classes to upgrade your skills. But you still aren’t getting ahead.
Watch out. You might be falling off the Benefits Cliff!
The Benefits Cliff is when you get a raise or promotion, but your higher income means you lose extra support like assistance for food, child care, or health care, or the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). You’re trying to do the right thing, but you just aren’t seeing more money in your pocket even though you’re earning higher wages. Your better pay does not make up for the sudden loss of benefits.
You aren’t alone. Many workers are stuck in jobs they are overqualified for, or want to go to school or get trained for a better career, yet they stay in their current position because they don’t want to fall off the Benefits Cliff.
What a waste! Employees lose out on taking a better career path, businesses lose out on recruiting or growing talent, and our entire community loses out on hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars from higher wages over the course of a lifetime.
Benefits Cliff Calculators
Now that you know what the Benefits Cliff is, the next step is to plan to deal with it. The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta has created Benefits Cliff calculators to help you develop a career pathway that’s rewarding and right for you. Click on a to do list below to get started.
Learn More
To learn more about the Benefits Cliff, kindly contact Julie Kerksick at jkerksick@communityadvocates.net.
