103 The Working Poor

Question 1

Explain the working poor.

Answer 1

The working poor are people who are in paid work but whose incomes still fall below the poverty line.

People work hard, often full-time, but because of many factors, aren’t able to make ends meet.

There is an ethnic concentration of the working poor that is reproduced through the ethnic (and gendered) segregation of the labour market

Question 2

What can help reduce in-work poverty/working poor?

Answer 2

The Living Wage and UBI both offer a means to reduce in-work poverty, although neither will alone solve this policy problem.