Apr 8, 2018 3 min read

When the Washington-based social services agency Blueprints outlined what it did and who it helped last year at its recent legislative breakfast, there was one fact in particular that stood out from the statistics and pie charts the organization served up along with eggs, bacon and orange juice.

Namely, a full 70 percent of those who sought assistance from Blueprints in 2017 were employed. They punched a clock at jobs, but even with that, 43 percent did not earn even half of the federal poverty level. Right now, that’s $20,000 per year for a family of three.

Darlene Bigler, Blueprints’ chief executive, pointed out that “people are working hard, but they can’t get ahead.”

She also said, “That doesn’t seem right.”

We agree.

For decades, there’s been a widespread misconception that people who receive assistance – “welfare,” the catch-all term – are shirking their duties to themselves and their families, are indolent and living large on the tax dollars and kindness of others. But the reality, as those numbers from Blueprints illustrate, is that poverty can take almost Houdini-like skills to break out of, even when those trapped in it are doing all the right things and playing by society’s rules.

The Center for Poverty Research at the University of California-Davis found workers in some of the lowest-paying professions are stymied in their efforts to get better and higher-paying employment because they frequently work at jobs with shifting schedules. This prevents them from taking classes or participating in training opportunities that are offered at fixed times. In order to make ends meet, they also frequently work more than one job, making it hard to simply find the time to do anything else.

“Typically, low-wage jobs are part time with no guaranteed hours, making it difficult for individuals to manage time effectively across work and nonwork areas of their lives,” the center reported. “Many employers expect workers to be on-call and available if needed, even sometimes for 12-hour shifts …”

Poverty is something that defies tidy, silver-bullet solutions. The country has made progress since the 1960s, when President Lyndon Johnson declared war on poverty. In 1964, shortly after Johnson succeeded John F. Kennedy, the national poverty rate was about 19 percent. Today, it is 12.7 percent. But there are some policy measures that, if enacted, would make life easier for working families struggling to break free from hardship.

First, the minimum wage should be raised. The last time it was hiked nationally was 2009, when it went from $6.55 per hour to $7.25 per hour (it’s higher in some states, including neighboring Maryland, where it’s $9.25 an hour). As it stands, the minimum wage does not hold the purchasing power it once did. Fifty years ago, when unemployment stood at 3.6 percent, the minimum wage was $1.60. That would be $11.68 in today’s dollars. Given the tightening labor market, less well-off Americans deserve a raise.

Some policy experts have also suggested states should establish individual development accounts that would help families make investments in education. A better-educated workforce helps create prosperity for everyone.

Sure, not everybody is going to get wealthy from the work they do. Just ask the teachers, social workers and public safety officials who are not lavishly compensated but still find satisfaction in their work. But we shouldn’t let people who toil every day, and frequently carry out thankless tasks, languish in destitution.