Poverty USA: The Working Poor
The U.S. Census Bureau defines poor families as those with cash incomes of less than $15,577 a year for a family of three – or $19,971 for a family of four.
Since 2000 – the last year before unemployment began to rise – the number of people in poverty has risen by 5.4 million. 2005 marked the first year since 1999 in which real median houshold income showed an annual increase, although median earnings for individuals fell. The number of people with no health insurance increased from 45.3 million in 2004 to 46.6 million in 2005.
In 2005, the number of people living in extreme poverty, that is, with incomes below half the poverty line, increased from 15.6 million in 2004 to 15.9 million in 2005. The number of Americans living in extreme poverty remains the highest level on record, since data first became available in 1975.
The average amount by which poor people’s incomes fell below the poverty line was greater in 2005 than any other year since recordkeeping began in 1975. The average amount by which the poor fell below the poverty line was $8,125 per family in 2005.
A single parent of two young children working full-time in a minimum wage job for a year would make $10,712 before taxes - a wage $4,865 below the poverty threshold set by the federal government. (U.S. Department of Labor; U.S. Census Bureau.)
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