Number of working poor families grows as wealth gap widens

The number of U.S. families struggling with poverty despite parents being employed continued to grow in 2011 as more people returned to work but mostly at lower-paying service jobs, an analysis of U.S. Census Bureau figures released this morning shows. Reuters reports more working parents have taken jobs as cashiers, maids, waiters and other low-wage jobs in fast-growing sectors that offer fewer hours and benefits, according to The Working Poor Families Project, a privately funded effort aimed at improving economic security for low-income families. The result is that 200,000 more such families emerged in 2011 than in 2010, according to the report. About 10.4 million working families—or 47.5 million Americans—now live near poverty, defined as earning less than 200% of the official poverty rate, which is $22,811 for a family of four. Overall, nearly one-third of working families now struggle, up from 31% in 2010 and 28% in 2007, when the recession began, according to the analysis. The findings come three years after the nation’s recession officially ended in the second half of 2009. Data shows that the top 20% of Americans received 48% of all income, while those in the bottom 20% got less than 5%, the report says. Read the full story here.