A Profile of the Working Poor, 2005 (PDF; 281 KB)
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

In 2005, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, 37.0 million people, or 12.6 percent of the population, lived at or below the official poverty threshold. The majority of the Nation’s poor were children and adults who had not participated in the labor force during the year. About 7.7 million of this group were classified as “working poor”–persons who, during the year, spent 27 weeks or more in the labor force (working or looking for work), but whose incomes still fell below the official poverty level. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics began measuring the working poor in 1987 and has since reported annually about the demographic and labor force characteristics of this group. In 2005, persons 16 years and older who were in the labor force for 27 weeks or more living below poverty numbered 5.4 percent–little changed from 5.6 percent the prior year. The 2005 working-poor rate was 0.7 percentage point higher than its most recent low point of 4.7 percent in 2000.

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