Endnotes

1. Data are derived from the American Community Survey 2006 using the following definitions: A family is defined as a primary married couple or single-parent family with at least one child under age of 18. Work is defined as a combined family work effort of 39 or more weeks in the last 12 months or a combined work effort of 26 weeks and at least one currently unemployed parent looking for work in the previous four weeks. Low-income working family is defined as a family earning less than 200 percent of the poverty income threshold as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau for 2006, which was $41,228 for a family of four. Earnings at 200 percent of poverty are used for low-income as a number of studies, including from the National Research Council, have concluded that the poverty threshold is an inadequate measure of economic self-sufficiency as it fails to consider the realistic costs of basic needs for families today.

2. Unless otherwise noted, data presented in this report are based on analyses from the Current Population Survey (health insurance), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Jobs Paying Below Poverty) and the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. The analysis of the CPS and ACS were generated by the Population Reference Bureau.

3. Families seeking economic self-sufficiency today must have income to cover an ever increasing array of household basic needs such as housing, child care, health care, food, transportation and taxes. After meeting these expenses, far too many families have little or no income for other family needs such as education and retirement.

4. According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, the real per capita gross domestic product increased 8.3 percent from 2002 to 2006.

5. The ratio of income inequality between the top quintile of working families and bottom quintile increased from a ratio of 8.4 in 2002 to 9.2 in 2006.

6. In 2006, $9.91 is the hourly wage a full-time worker needs to meet the poverty threshold for a family of four.

7. Holzer, Harry and Robert Lerman, America’s Forgotten Middle-Skill Jobs: Education and Training Requirements in the Next Decade and Beyond. The Workforce Alliance, Washington, D.C. 2007.

8. Report on the National Commission of Adult Literacy, Reach Higher America: Overcoming the Crises in the U.S. Workforce. National Commission on Adult Literacy, June 2008, pg. 10.

9. Case, Annette, Securing State Commitments to Family Prosperity. Working Poor Families Project, Spring 2008.

10. Waldron, Tom, Brandon Roberts and Andrew Reamer, Working Hard, Falling Short: America’s Working Families and the Pursuit of Economic Security. Working Poor Families Project, October 2004, pgs. 28–29.

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