Working poor are struggling
Report says nearly 30% are below poverty level
She still cannot, however, pay the monthly premiums required to insure her 11-year-old son, who is enrolled in a government-sponsored health insurance program for children.
DeMonja, 31, is not unlike thousands of other Utahns, according to a report released today by Utah Issues. In its State of Working Utah 2005, the anti-poverty research organization notes that thousands of employed Utahns are hovering at or are below the national poverty level.
"So many people who are in poverty are working — working hard, working full-time jobs," said Sarah Wilhelm, economist for Utah Issues. "If just one little thing goes wrong . . . it could really push them over the edge and put them in a really dire situation."
Despite increased job growth and dropping unemployment rates in Utah, nearly 30 percent of Utah workers earn a wage that leaves them below the poverty level, today's report states. Additionally, more than 40 percent of workers don't earn enough money to support a family with two working parents.
During the first quarter of 2005, Utah was fourth in the country for job growth, particularly in the high-paying manufacturing field. Still, the report notes, Utahns continually earn lower wages than workers in the rest of the country. In 2004, the median wage for Utah workers was $1.42 less than national figures, according to the report.
In a family with two working adults and two children, both adults must make $11.34 an hour to meet the family's basic living expenses, according to state figures. The self-sufficiency standard for a single parent is $19.04 an hour, today's report states.
With a federal minimum wage of $5.15 an hour, those standards are nearly impossible to meet, Wilhelm said. Individual states have the power to raise the minimum wage, which Utah Issues has advocated, but Utah lawmakers have elected not to do so. Additionally, the Legislature also recently passed a law forbidding municipalities from raising the amount, Wilhelm said.
DeMonja makes $10.50 an hour at her full-time job and $7 an hour in her part-time position. She struggles to make ends meet each month but said she has pulled through by taking advantage of every opportunity that comes her way.
"In the state of Utah, there are endless resources," she said. "If you look for the resources, generally you can survive."
James Lipps also took advantage of those resources, particularly the state Department of Workforce Services' vocational training program. With the agency's help, the 30-year-old now has his commercial driver's license and stable employment.
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