Furloughed Workers Are Owed $4.7 Billion

The government shutdown is now in its 34th day, with an estimated 800,000-plus furloughed workers missing their paychecks. Just who are these federal workers? Sentier Research, which produces a monthly median household income series, analyzed the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey to determine the characteristics of furloughed federal government employees. Here are a few of the findings...

• 56% of furloughed workers are men, 44% are women.
• Furloughed workers have median earnings of $67,000.
• 38% of the households of furloughed workers include children.
• Among the 74% of households with a furloughed worker who own their home, 82 percent have a mortgage. Those with a mortgage have an average monthly mortgage payment of $1,600. The nation's furloughed workers’ cumulative monthly mortgage payment is $752 million.

Furloughed workers are now owed $5,600 each, Sentier estimates, or a total of $4.7 billion.

Source: Sentier Research, Furloughed Workers