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A recent study painted a dismal portrait of America's working poor, estimating that some 41 million people cannot afford to make ends meet, despite being employed. These hardworking Americans earn low wages, have few benefits and often can't qualify for government help -- and many of the Women in Red are in a similar quandary.
But the Women in Red are discovering a way out. Not poor, but struggling to get by "Bridging the Gaps: A Picture of How Work Supports Work in 10 States" was issued in October by the progressive Center for Economic Policy Research in Washington, D.C., and the Center for Social Policy at the University of Massachusetts, focusing on families in 10 states with incomes far above the official poverty threshold. The median monthly incomes studied in the report ranged from a low of $2,293 in Iowa to $4,515 in Washington, D.C. Despite not being officially "poor," these families are struggling to get by in a variety of ways: - More than one in five workers (22.1%) are in jobs with low pay and no benefits (no health insurance or retirement plan).
- The median monthly "hardship gap" between families' expenses and their earnings was about $1,500.
- Those who got "work supports," or aid from the government, still faced an $855 median monthly shortfall.
The circumstances of poverty Although the report outlines the broad financial circumstances of the working poor, it attributes them to "bad jobs" and a failure of government programs. What the report misses is the other side of being broke, as many in the Women in Red can testify. That's when your economic stress is partly, if not primarily, of your own making. I'm not referring to those who are impoverished due to a snowballing of circumstances beyond their control. There are countless Americans who live on the financial edge through no fault of their own. Article by msn |
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