Little Change Found in Workers’ Poverty Level

NEW YORK —  America’s longest economic expansion has failed to benefit all workers, as poverty levels among full-time employees have changed little since the early 1970s, a study made public Thursday found.

In groundbreaking research that examined poverty among full-time workers, the New York-based Conference Board found that since 1973, even as the work force has expanded, a growing proportion of employees has been touched by poverty.

“Working full time, year-round, even in a booming economy, is not enough to lift everyone out of poverty,” said Linda Barrington, the study’s author and a labor economist at the Conference Board, a private business research group.

The study was the first to compare poverty rates among full-time workers going back to the mid-1960s. Currently, the poverty line is $13,290 for a family of three.

The study found that minorities in the work force have higher levels of poverty and lag whites in income, although they now make up more than 25% of the full-time work force. “Today, a nonwhite full-time worker is 1 1/2 times more likely to be poor,” it said.

In addition, the two lowest-paying sectors of the economy--retail and services--are now employing a greater share of the total work force, making up almost 50%.

“Cycling in and out of poverty makes it more difficult to save, accumulate wealth and carry out long-term personal and financial planning,” the study said.

Even in the one-year period beginning in March 1997, when the economy was booming, the number of poor workers grew by almost half a percentage point to 2.9% of the work force, or about 3 million workers. That was about the same increase as occurred in 1981, a year of economic recession, the study found.

“An increase of that size at this time is worrisome,” said Barrington, adding that there will be more cause for concern if new government data to be released in September fail to show a dramatic improvement.

Barrington said the grim numbers overshadowed some good news: During the record-breaking economic expansion, many more low-skilled workers entered the work force in low-wage jobs.

That increased the level of poverty among full-time workers, but also meant there were more individuals with a stake in the economy.

But “what does it mean if you’re completely attached to the labor market and not getting your family out of poverty? Clearly this is something that should get the attention of those who work in public policy,” she said in an interview.