Lack of paid sick days deprives workers of funds needed for basic necessities: Selected average monthly expenditures and their unpaid sick days equivalent, 2021
| Monthly expenditure | Unpaid sick days equivalent | |
|---|---|---|
| Housing | $1,698 | 13.7 |
| Shelter | $981 | 7.9 |
| Utilities, fuels, and public services | $359 | 2.9 |
| Electricity | $136 | 1.1 |
| Telephone services | $114 | 0.9 |
| Clothing | $105 | 0.8 |
| Food | $628 | 5.1 |
| Groceries | $406 | 3.3 |
| Fruits and vegetables | $78 | 0.6 |
| Health care | $544 | 4.4 |
| Health insurance | $374 | 3.0 |
| Prescriptions and medications | $59 | 0.5 |
| Transportation | $848 | 6.8 |
| Gasoline and motor oil | $213 | 1.7 |
| Vehicle insurance | $132 | 1.1 |
Notes: The first column is a selected list of household expenditures for a two-adult household. The second column displays the average monthly household expenditures on this selected set of goods for a household earning between $50,000 and $69,999 per year, the range in which a household with two adults working full time at $15.50 per hour would fall ($15.50 per hour x 2 adults x 2,080 hours = $62,400). The third column illustrates the number of unpaid sick days that could put each expenditure at risk.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey (BLS 2023c); Department of Health and Human Services Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (DHHS AHRQ 2023).
This chart appears in:
- Work sick or lose pay?: The high cost of being sick when you don’t get paid sick days
- Work sick or lose pay?: The high cost of being sick when you don’t get paid sick days
- Paid sick leave access expands with widespread state action: Low-wage workers without access face economic and health insecurity
Previous chart: « Table 3| Poverty rates by race/ethnicity, gender, and region, 2019