June 21, 2006 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
Working poor and education in 2004
Achieving higher levels of education dramatically reduces the likelihood of being among the working poor.
 [Chart data—TXT]
Individuals with higher levels of education have greater access to higher paying jobs, such as management, professional, and related occupations, than do those with lower education. In 2004, the working-poor rate for college graduates was 1.7 percent, the lowest by education level.
Persons with less than a high school diploma were those most likely to be among the working poor (15.2 percent); having a high school diploma or equivalent, but no college, reduced the working-poor rate to 6.5 percent.
These data were collected in the 2005 Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the
Current Population Survey. For more information see A Profile of the Working Poor, 2004, Report 994
(PDF 87K). As defined in this report, the working poor are individuals who spent at least 27 weeks in the labor force (working or looking for work), but whose incomes fell below the official poverty level.
 
Related TED article:
Of interest
Spotlight on Statistics: The Recession of 2007–2009
The most recent recession in the United States began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009, though many of the statistics that describe the U.S. economy have yet to return to their pre-recession values. In this Spotlight, we present BLS data that compare the recent recession to previous recessions.
Read more »
|