Working poor: All jobs should pay living wages. 

Insights & Analyses

  • The percentage of working poor has increased overall since 1980 from 8 percent of workers to 10 percent of workers although Mixed populations and Black populations experienced slight decreases. 

  • Latinx workers, especially men, consistently have the highest rates of working poverty among all groups. Since 1980 the share of Latinx people who are working poor increased from 17 to 21 percent. 

  • US-born Latinxs are less likely to be working poor than US-born and immigrant Blacks as well as Native Americans. 

  • Southern states like Mississippi and Arkansas with low minimum wages have had some of the highest levels of working poverty since 2010, while Northeastern states like Connecticut and Massachusetts with higher minimum wages have maintained the lowest levels.

Drivers of Inequity

Wages on the lower end of the wage distribution are stagnant, causing a rise in the number of people who are working yet still struggling economically. Shifts in the U.S. economy, such as corporate outsourcing to countries with lower wages, employer consolidation, and declines in union membership, are driving this stagnation. Federal policy choices, such as fiscal austerity and a minimum wage that has not been raised since 2009, also contribute to the rise in working poor. These shifts disproportionately impact women and people of color because they are overrepresented in low-paying jobs as a result of historical factors such as racial segregation and policies that banned women and people of color from accessing education and higher paid professions. Ongoing factors, like discriminatory hiring practices, lack of affordable childcare, and disparities in generational wealth, also contribute to working poverty.

Strategies

Grow an equitable economy: Policies to ensure full-time workers are economically secure

Strategy in Action

Stockton boosts incomes through unconditional cash payments. Through the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration (SEED), 125 residents in neighborhoods in Stockton, California, in which the median household income is at or below $46,000 began receiving a monthly, unconditional $500 payment for 18 months. Stockton is a diverse, high-poverty city that often experiences a higher unemployment rate than the rest of the state. Throughout the project, researchers are collecting data on who is participating, how they spend their money, and how the additional income is affecting their lives. While critics argued recipients would spend the cash on addictive substances and luxury items, researchers announced that, so far, about 40 percent of payment funds have gone to food, 25 percent to merchandise, and 12 percent to utilities. The remainder of the study's findings will likely be announced in 2021 after the pilot is completed. Learn more.

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