By DUANE M. ELLING
As families from all walks of life in the U.S. face growing economic uncertainty, a new report suggests that the financial struggles of poor, working households have gone from bad to worse.
Still Working Hard, Still Falling Short, released on October 14 by
The Working Poor Families Project, points to recent U.S. Census data that show the number of low-income [below 200 percent of the federal poverty level] working households rose from 9.2 million in 2002 to nearly 9.6 million in 2006.
And the earnings gap between those families and the nation’s wealthier households increased by almost 10 percent during the same period.
The result: nearly one out of every four working families with children in this country is low-income.
Such findings, notes Brandon Roberts, highlight that “more has to be done at both the federal and state levels if we’re serious about reducing poverty, strengthening families and creating an economic turnaround in the U.S.”
Roberts is a public policy consultant whose firm, Brandon Roberts & Associates, is coordinating The Working Poor Families Project.
The project, launched in 2002, helps state-level nonprofit organizations work toward public policies that promote economic success among working families. It is operating in 24 states and the District of Columbia.
The Mott Foundation has made three grants totaling
$600,000 for the project since 2005. Additional support comes from the Annie E. Casey, Ford, and Joyce foundations.
Still Working Hard, Still Falling Short highlights many realities of low-income, working families. Among these is the fact that 72 percent are employed and hold down -- on average -- the equivalent of one and a quarter full-time jobs. In addition, more than half are headed by married couples and only 25 percent receive food stamp assistance.
Yet, notes Roberts, “despite working hard and playing by the rules,” most are in a constant struggle to meet even their most basic needs.
The problem is exacerbated, the report notes, by the fact that living-wage jobs increasingly require an education or training beyond high school. However, studies show that one in three young people in the U.S. drop out of high school before earning their diploma. Furthermore,
a June 26 report -- funded by Mott -- from the
National Commission on Adult Literacy found that nearly 30 million adults in this country lack basic literacy skills.
“Our data makes it pretty clear that the situation is getting worse, not better,” said Roberts. “Public policies have to do a better job of helping and supporting working families.”
Among the report’s recommendations:
- Increasing state-level investment in programs that advance the job skills of adult workers and developing state policies that strengthen wages and employment benefits among low-income, working families.
- At the federal level, increasing the number of living-wage jobs in the U.S.; supporting states’ efforts to help workers prepare for, obtain and retain those jobs; conducting regular assessments of the challenges facing low-income, working families; and focusing national attention on the importance of economic opportunities for those families.
Roberts says that an expansion of tax reform programs that support working families, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), is also needed at the state and federal levels. The EITC reduces or eliminates the income taxes of qualifying households and, in many cases, provides a tax refund when the calculated credit exceeds the tax owed. Twenty-four states currently offer EITCs, supplementing the federal program launched in 1975.
Tom Hilliard notes that efforts by The Working Poor Families Project to obtain and share relevant, reliable data on the conditions facing low-income, working households are key to advancing such policies. Hilliard is senior policy associate at the Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy in Albany, New York. The Center is among the organizations participating in the project.
“That data is extremely powerful. It helps us to understand what is happening to low-income working families in our state, to explain our arguments to policymakers, and to bring about the right policy reforms,” said Hilliard.
Both Hilliard and Roberts agree that the growing economic uncertainties sweeping the country today are a stark reminder that low-income, working families have long been in crisis. And the complexity of the issues at hand, notes Roberts, affirms that no single policy can solve the problem.
“We must take action on a number of fronts, including education, workforce development, income and workplace supports,” he said. “It’s the only way that we’ll help low-income families, and ultimately, the entire country, realize the American Dream of economic mobility and security.”
ADDITIONAL RESOURCE
- Read an article about a report from the National Commission on Adult Literacy that explores how diminished literacy skills in the U.S. are undermining the nation's economic future.