Surprising face of working poor

[TechBear_Seattle]

Surprising face of working poor
Their jobs allow them to barely hang on in city -- and they're all around

By CAROL SMITH AND PAUL NYHAN
P-I REPORTERS

It shouldn't come as a surprise. In a city that converted the common cup of joe into a high-priced addiction, a city that sports glittering stadiums and gleams with software millionaires, a city that hires celebrity architects for public buildings -- it shouldn't be a surprise that some hard-working people can no longer afford the luxury of living here.

But it does come as a surprise -- to many. The region's working poor are largely hidden in plain sight. If this is the Emerald City, then the face behind the curtain -- the one we are supposed to pay no attention to -- is of the men and women who help support the Seattle economy but can barely afford to live here.

...

A yearlong Seattle P-I examination showed there are nearly a half-million people in King and Snohomish counties living at less than twice the federal poverty level, or about $38,000 a year for a family of four. That's one person in every five.

Of those, 61 percent, or nearly 300,000 people, live in families with at least one adult working full time. Contrary to common stereotypes, these working poor are mostly white, often college educated, largely single and primarily U.S. citizens.

The complete article can be read at http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/259649_pooroverview16.html

[xchrom]

1. surprising to who is what i want to know.

maybe it's not the working poor and their make-up that's surprising -- maybe it's those who ''don't know about them'' ?

americans seem constantly surpised by the make-up of the ''other group'' -- what does that say?

just wondering aloud.

[Sadie5]

2. Not surprising to me

This is about the norm anymore. No jobs that pay anything. Welcome to the Bush neocon world folks.