working poor

this term should be an oxymoron. If you work full-time, if you work hard, you should not be poor. Yet one in four American workers have jobs that pay $10 an hour or less and 10.4 million Americans qualify as the "working poor." Roger Weisberg, who produced and directed the documentary "Waging a Living," said he wanted viewers to understand "what it's like to work hard, play by the rules, and still not be able to support a family." Despite all their hard work and determination, people find themselves, as one subject in the documentary observes, "hustling backwards." Since 1994, more than 100 cities have passed local living wage laws that require employers who do business with the government—who get taxpayer subsidies, in other words—to pay workers enough to lift their families out of poverty.