More Oregon Families Cannot Escape Poverty Despite Full-Time Work

Work — even full-time work — is no sure path out of poverty. Most poor families in Oregon are working families, including many who have at least one full-time working parent. Indeed, even as the economy grew following the end of the Great Recession, the share of poor families with at least one parent working full time increased. Poverty despite work affects some demographic groups more than others: children, Latino families, and single-mother households.

That a growing number of families are poor despite working full time highlights the need for Oregon lawmakers to focus on reducing poverty.