What is the Benefits Cliff?
Imagine working hard to earn a promotion and a raise only to find that, should you accept, you’ll soon be denied assistance via social support programs that are critical to making ends meet – and leaving you and your family financially worse off than before. As a result, you’re forced to make an unfair choice: advance your career or do what’s best for your family in the here and now.
When this happens, businesses lose out on recruiting or growing talent, employees lose the opportunity to advance their career, and our entire community loses out on hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars over the course of a lifetime.
To overcome these challenges, we must first know where the Benefits Cliff is — and that number is different for every individual. That’s why Employ Buffalo Niagara, along with the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, has created this Benefits Cliff Calculator — a free, simple tool that will do the math for you to calculate an individual’s Benefits Cliff.
Get started with the Benefits Cliff Calculator
Employees, employers, and workforce entities can plug in current benefits and potential income increases to gain a better understanding of how employees can thrive, businesses can promote their promising talent, and all of our neighbors can be carried toward financial security and independence. The tool will also help the public sector understand the urgent need for policy changes to lessen the impact of the Benefits Cliff moving forward.
Benefits Cliff Resources and Guides
Awareness is the first step toward tackling the challenges of Benefits Cliffs. Whether you’re a business leader, workforce advocate, or policymaker, we’re here to support your efforts with free, accessible resources.
Explore our collection of tools—including engaging explainer videos and shareable social media content—designed to educate, inspire, and drive action. Use these assets to spark conversations in your workplace, amplify awareness on your channels, and share with your network. Together, we can build understanding and pave the way for meaningful solutions.
- Help us advocate for change on social media: Benefits Cliff Social Media Resources
- To help spread awareness about detrimental benefits cliff policies, use these social media assets, which includes post copy, graphics, hashtags, and relevant links. Once you’ve found the social media post that you or your organization most closely aligns with, all you have to do is copy, paste and post on LinkedIn, Facebook and/or Twitter along with all four of the graphics.
- Tell Lawmakers: Act now to Bridge the Benefits Cliff
- A quick and easy way to communicate with your local and state representatives. A message is generated and communication is sent based on your address.
- Letter to the Governor
- Download this letter to send to the Governor to encourage her to act now to address the Benefits Cliff in NYS.
To Learn More
Learn more about the Benefit Cliff Calculator and discover more Employ Programs, submit your information!
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