Low-wage worker characteristics: implications for children in poverty

Low-wage workers and their related demographic and socio-economic characteristics are of major consideration in almost all industrialized nations. The resulting wage differential that exists between skilled and unskilled labor is substantial, making the topic of low-wage worker characteristics a major global concern. Historically, the challenges in conducting a research study on low-wage workers have been noteworthy. For decades, it was not possible to accurately estimate the cost-of-living across major metropolitan areas that covered multiple state lines in terms of consumer prices. Most scholars agreed, however, that rural poverty and living standards differed significantly from urban poverty and standard of living. In the United States, and only within the last two decades, have there been strides in the ability to calculate the costs of living across major metropolitan areas in a consistent measure. This paper provides the framework of wage-rate and poverty-level determination to assist in the critical analysis of the interrelationships among poverty and low-wage worker characteristics.