Enough said

Working Poor Families Project
WA State Data

	Washington	State %	State Rank	US%
1	Low-Income* Working Families	24	13	28
2	Low-Income Minority Working Families	38	14	41
3	Low-Income Working Families with No HS Degree/GED	29	34	33
4	Low-Income Working Families with No Postsecondary Experience	50	18	57
5	Low-Income Working Families Paying 1/3 or More for Housing	62	34	60
6	Low-Income Working Families with Parent without Health Insurance	34	22	39
7	Children in Low-Income Working Families	29	15	33
8	Low-Income Families That Work	71	31	72
9	Adults 18-64 with No HS Degree/GED	11	21	14
10	Jobs in Occupations Paying Below Poverty	11.8	4	22.2

Low-Income is defined as a family income below 200% of poverty. In 2006, the poverty threshold was $20,614 for a family of four and thus the low-income threshold was $41,228.

Data sources: All data from American Community Survey, 2006 except #6 from Current Population Survey, 2005-2007 and #10 from Occupational Employment Statistics, BLS 2006.


This is my state. Only 2 hours north of me resides the world's richest man, Bill Gates. All you have to do is is drive across the 520 or I-90 bridge and go south you will find schools that are crumbling, homeless, mentally and physically ill people who cannot afford to be treated or eat a solid meal. The area boasts large employers such as Boeing, Microsoft, civilian military. Yet we rank 4th in the country with jobs that pay below the poverty line. And I would argue that teaching is one of them: My husband teaches in a district that takes over 800.00/month for insurance. after taxes and retirement, we clearly meet the definition as working poor. If it weren't for children's medical and a new program that reimburses our insurance premium we would be suffering even more. And we're lucky. What is it going to take to bring these people out of poverty? Is it education? More jobs? Better social services? The questions are too numerous to post.