Safety Net Increasingly Catches Amazon, Gig Workers

More Americans are working and still turning to safety-net programs—and a growing share of them punch in for Amazon jobs or fire up gig apps. A new Government Accountability Office report finds that, in 11 states studied, the number of Amazon workers on food stamps and Medicaid nearly tripled between early 2020 and September 2025, while drivers and couriers for Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Grubhub, and Instacart suddenly surfaced as some of the biggest groups of working recipients. Collectively, the Washington Post reports, those app-based companies now top the list for food stamp users and sit among the top three employers for Medicaid enrollees.

Overall, the GAO says about 13.8 million employed adults were on Medicaid and 10.6 million on SNAP in 2024, both up sharply from 2020. Walmart remains the largest single employer of Medicaid recipients, and other major names high on the list include McDonald's, Dollar Tree, Dollar General, and FedEx. Amazon argues the raw counts reflect its rapid hiring and part-time options, not unusually low pay, while industry group Flex says gig work helps people bridge income gaps. Sen. Bernie Sanders and others counter that taxpayers are effectively propping up low-wage business models, as many full- and part-time workers still can't cover basics without government help.