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BLS – A Profile of the Working Poor, 2011

A Profile of the Working Poor, 2011 [April 2013]

  • “In 2011, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, about 46.2 million people, or 15.0 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, 10.4 million individuals were among the “working poor” in 2011; this measure was little changed from 2010. The working poor are persons 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 2011, 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, slightly below the previous year’s figure (7.2 percent). Full-time workers were less likely to be among the working poor than were part-time workers. Among persons in the labor force for 27 weeks or more, 4.2 percent of those usually employed full time were classified as working poor, compared with 14.4 percent of part-time workers. Women were more likely than men to be among the working poor. Also, Blacks and Hispanics were more likely than Asians and Whites to be among the working poor.”
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