About 1 in 8 congressional staffers are not making a living wage, according to a new analysis of payroll data.
The problem is particularly acute for staff assistants, who are often the most junior staffers in congressional offices. According to Issue One, a “crosspartisan” group that advocates for transparency in politics, nearly 1,200 staffers in 2020 made less than the $42,610 that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology says is a living wage for an adult with no children in the nation’s capital.
Right around 13 percent of Washington, D.C.-based congressional aides came up short of that mark.
