One Third of Working Families Are Working Poor
Posted at 9:30 a.m. on Jan. 17
“With the nation’s economy in recovery…more than 70 percent of low-income families and half of all poor families were working by 2011. The problem is they did not earn enough to cover their basic living expenses,” according to the Washington Post.
“32 percent of working families earned salaries that put them below double the poverty threshold. For a family of four, double the poverty threshold was $45,622. That percentage has crept up from 28 percent in 2007, the year the recession began.”
“The growth in the ranks of the working poor coincides with continued growth in income inequality. Many of the occupations experiencing the fastest job growth during the recovery also pay poorly… Meanwhile, the best means for climbing the income ladder — improved education — is growing more uncertain and more expensive.”
