|
San Francisco has among the highest costs of living in the country. Thus, the wages earned by many entry-tier and lower-income workers are not sufficient to support their families.
By either bolstering income or reducing expenses, work supports help low-income workers and families to make ends meet and stay in the workforce. Work supports incorporate a range of programs, including, but not limited to: subsidized health insurance and child care, utility discounts, transportation and nutrition assistance, and tax credits.
SF Works’ policy activities relevant to work supports focus on eliminating barriers to access and expanding resources. The San Francisco Working Families Credit exemplifies these efforts.
Learn more:
-
Eliminating Barriers to Access
-
The challenges of supporting a family on low wages are particularly pronounced in San Francisco, where the cost of living is among the highest in the nation. At the same time, workers in San Francisco have among the lowest take-up rate for work supports (e.g., tax credits, Food Stamps, etc) in the nation. For example, with just 23% of eligible individuals enrolled, San Francisco is tied for last place among the nation’s big cities for take-up of Food Stamps.
In focus groups for the Working Families Credit, applicants indicated that the most common reasons for not applying for work supports are access barriers, frustrations with benefit amounts, and misperceptions about eligibility criteria.
-
Through our policy efforts, SF Works seeks to improve communication about publicly provided work supports and reduce barriers to participation.
- Expanding Resources
-
SF Works helps workers earning up to $45,000/year access community benefits for which they may be eligible, such as discounts on utilities, transportation pass savings, and free eye exams. We can determine eligibility and enroll or refer your employees in up to 15 programs from numerous public and private programs.
We offer this program in combination with hiring tax credit access, so if your business is eligible for tax credits, we can help your employees save money at the same time we help your business save money on taxes.
If your business isn’t located in the Enterprise Zone, or is a nonprofit not eligible for tax credits, we can also offer this program independently.
-
Working Families Credit
-
In 2003, SF Works partnered with Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth to lead a coalition of public, private, and nonprofit stakeholders in advocating for the creation of a local supplement to the federal Earned Income Tax Credit. Announced by Mayor Gavin Newsom shortly after his election, the San Francisco Working Families Credit was first implemented during the 2005 tax season.
Since then SF Works has succeeded in promoting to the City that it expand its goals for the Working Families Credit, from increasing take up by eligible San Franciscans of the federal EITC, to also helping low-income families connect to work supports, financial services and asset-building opportunities. More information about the Working Families Credit is available at www.workingfamiliescredit.org. Reports and articles about the Working Families Credit, can be found in our publications.
|
