The Persistence of Working Poor Families in a Changing U.S. Job Market

This article explores the persistence of working poor families in the United States—families that live on the threshold of poverty despite at least one family member working full-time. The persistence of poverty in the United States has been exacerbated by recent changes in the job market that have altered the composition and availability of jobs due to technological unemployment, the polarization of jobs, declining job quality, and stagnation in job growth. The relationships between the persistence of working poor families and these changes in the job market are examined. The article concludes with a review of human resource development (HRD) research on poverty and the working poor, and a discussion of the implications of the persistence of working poor families for HRD research and practice.