The working poor - At Issue …

Monthly Labor Review, Sept, 1997 by Thomas W. Hale

In addition to having incomes below the poverty line, the working poor tend to share certain economic and demographic characteristics.(1) First, they face labor market problems like unemployment, involuntary part-time employment, and low earnings--all of which lower their annual incomes. Second, the working poor often live in family structures that are more conducive to poverty, such as those with dependent children but only one family member of working age. Finally, the working poor are over represented among women, blacks, Hispanics, and the less educated.

Of the more than 36 million people living in poverty in 1995, about 7.5 million either worked or looked for work for at least half the year and hence were classified as the working poor. The "poverty rate" for workers--the ratio of the working poor to all persons who were in the labor force for 27 weeks or more--was 5.9 percent. As in previous years, the majority of the working poor in 1995 worked full time most weeks during the year, although full-time workers generally are less likely to be poor. (See table 1.)

Table 1. Persons in the labor force for 27 weeks or more: poverty status by work experience usual full- or part-time status, 1995

[Numbers in thousands]

Work experience                         Total in the   At or above
                                        labor force    poverty
                                                       level

  Total in labor force                  126,020        118,539

Did not work during the year              1,085            583
Worked during the year                  124,935        117,955
  Usual full-time workers               103,545         99,113
   Some involuntary part-time work(2)     5,917          5,234
  Usual part-time workers                21,390         18,843
   Involuntary part-time workers          4,307          3,190
   Voluntary part-time workers           17,083         15,653

Work experience                         Below          Poverty
                                        poverty rate   rate(1)

  Total in labor force                  7,482           5.9

Did not work during the year              502          46.3
Worked during the year                  6,980           5.6
  Usual full-time workers               4,433           4.3
   Some involuntary part-time work(2)     683          11.5
  Usual part-time workers               2,547          11.9
   Involuntary part-time workers        1,116          25.9
   Voluntary part-time workers          1,431           8.4

"At issue" was prepared by Thomas W. Hale, an economist in the Division of Labor Force Statistics, Bureau of Labor Statistics.