The Working Poor in US – About 45.3 million people, or 14.5 percent of the nation’s population

In 2013, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, about 45.3 million people, or 14.5 percent of the nation’s population, lived below the official poverty level. Although the poor were primarily children and adults who had not participated in the labor force during the year, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 10.5 million individuals were among the “working poor” in 2013; this measure was little different from 2012. The working poor are people who spent at least 27 weeks in the labor force (that is, working or looking for work) but whose incomes still fell below the official poverty level. In 2013, the working-poor rate—the ratio of the working poor to all individuals in the labor force for at least 27 weeks—was 7.0 percent, little changed from the previous year’s figure (7.1 percent). After rising from 5.1 percent to 7.0 percent between 2007 and 2009, the ratio has remained within a narrow range of 7.0 percent to 7.2 percent.

Highlights

• Full-time workers continued to be much less likely to be among the working poor than were part- time workers. Among people in the labor force for 27 weeks or more, 4.1 percent of those usually employed full time were classified as working poor, compared with 15.8 percent of part-time workers.

• Women were more likely than men to be among the working poor. In addition, Blacks and Hispanics continued to be more than twice as likely as Whites and Asians to be among the working poor.

• The likelihood of being classified as working poor diminishes as workers attain higher levels of education. Among college graduates, 2.3 percent of those who were in the labor force for at least 27 weeks were classified as working poor, compared with 19.2 percent of those with less than a high school diploma.

• The likelihood of being among the working poor was lower for individuals employed in management, professional, and related occupations than for those employed in other major occupation groups.

• Among families with at least one member in the labor force for 27 weeks or more, those with children under 18 years old were about 3 times more likely than those without children to live in poverty. Families maintained by women were more likely than families maintained by men to be living below the poverty level.

 A Profile of the Working Poor, 2013