Report: Indiana working poor numbers grow

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By Beth Boehne

Story Created: Oct 25, 2008 at 5:20 PM EST

Story Updated: Feb 1, 2009 at 12:29 PM EST

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — The number of poor working families in Indiana is increasing and is likely to grow even more as the economy struggles, a new report said.

The most recent Working Poor Families Project found that 28 percent of Indiana's working families, or more than one in four, earned less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level. That threshold was $41,228 in 2006 when the data for the report was compiled.

The figure was an increase of 2 percent, or 17,000 families, from a 2004 study. And the report released this month said the number of working families considered low-income likely will grow during the current economic downturn.

The report is part of a national initiative to examine the conditions of America's working families. It was funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Joyce Foundation and the C.S. Mott Foundation.

The report also found that 25 percent of the state's jobs are in occupations that generate an income below the federal poverty level for a family of four.

Working families in low-paying jobs can find it hard to put increasingly expensive food on the table or to pay monthly bills for car payments, mortgages and utilities, said Jane Avery, executive director of the Community Harvest Food Bank in Fort Wayne.

Some people continue working their minimum-wage jobs when it's costing them almost as much in gas money to get to and from work, just to show their kids the importance of holding down a job, Avery said.

"They work, they pay taxes," she said. "The thing, I think, that's scary for a lot of people is that the higher-paying job they've lost is being replaced with a lower-paying job."

Anyone with $2,000 or more in a retirement or savings account doesn't qualify for food stamps, so those people might dip into their savings or accumulate debt to make ends meet, she said.

The report makes suggestions for improving Indiana's ranking of 25th in the nation for the percentage of low-income working families, an average score that represents a drop of five places in the national ranking since the 2004 report.

Investing in job training programs, increasing the minimum wage above the federal wage standard, and initiatives such as paid parent leave for family and medical needs resulted in some states reducing their number of low-income working families, the report said.

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Information from: The Journal Gazette, http://www.journalgazette.net

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