A report released Tuesday by the Working Poor Families Project reveals that more than 28 percent of American families with one or both parents employed are living in poverty.
The report, “Still Working Hard, Still Falling Short,” is based on data for the period from 2004 through 2006 gathered from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey and the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey.
The report finds that 9.6 million households can be described as low-income or “working poor”—defined as families that earn less than 200 percent of the official poverty level. There were 350,000 more such families in 2006 than in 2002. More than 21 million children now live in low-income working families—an increase of 800,000 in four years.
The report documents the sharp decline in living standards for wide layers of the working class, the result of decades of corporate downsizing and wage-cutting presided over by Democratic and well as Republican administrations. It shows that poverty-level jobs are increasingly common and are held by broad sections of the population. Contrary to certain stereotypes promoted by the media, the majority of families living on poverty wages are neither immigrants, minorities or families with a single parent.
The report notes that working poor families “lack the earnings necessary to meet their basic needs—a struggle exacerbated by soaring prices for food, gas, health and education.” About 60 percent of low-income working families are forced to spend more than one-third of their income on housing, and nearly 40 percent lack health insurance for one or both parents.
These figures seem to go up every year, but few notice, unless you are unfortunate enough to be in the multitude of the working poor.
The problem with surveys and reports is that they fail to consider that many of those surveyed ‘do’ make enough to meet basic needs {IF} they eliminate things they really do not ‘need’ such as cable TV, DSL service, cell phone service, New Car payments, living in more house than they really need. The keeping with the Jones syndrome.
again you are basically right….but marketing has made it impossible for a person to live within their means….when consumer goods goes up 5% yearly and the wages go up 3%…it is impossible to live within ones means….transportation is not a luxury anymore….neither is shelter….nor food.