The Near Poor: Many educated, employed Americans struggle to make ends meet

Federal poverty statistics may not paint an accurate picture of how Americans are getting along economically, two new studies suggest.

About 45 percent of U.S. residents who are not considered poor by federal standards don't have enough money for basic expenses like housing, food and health care, according to a new study by the advocacy group Wider Opportunities for Women. And the number of people hovering just above the federal poverty threshold is 76 percent higher than official records indicate, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data published in the New York Times.

"These numbers are higher than we anticipated," said Trudi J. Renwick, the U.S. Census Bureau's chief poverty statistician, after the New York Times asked her to crunch the previously unpublished numbers. "There are more people struggling than the official numbers show."

To calculate its statistics, Wider Opportunities for Women teamed up with the Center for Social Development at Washington University to establish the costs of basic goods and services American workers need to meet health, safety and work needs. The organization compared 2009 pre-tax incomes to a budget of basic expenses like housing, utilities, health care, food, transportation and child care.

Many of those struggling to make ends meet are working full time. One in four adults who work full time don't make enough money to support themselves, according to the report. Seventy-four percent of single mothers working full time don't make enough money to cover all the expenses. Even in homes with two full-time workers, 22 percent fall short of economic security.

The more educated were more likely to be financially secure, but still 57 percent of households headed by high school graduates and 21 percent of households headed by college graduates struggled.

"This is a wake-up call for Congress, for our state policy-makers, really for all of us," said Donna Addkison, President and CEO of Wider Opportunities for Women in a news release. "Nearly half of our nation's families cannot cover the costs of basic expenses even when they do have a job. Under these conditions, cuts to unemployment insurance, financial aid for post-secondary education, job training, even child care assistance and other programs families are relying on right now would push them from crisis to catastrophe."

The New York Times dubbed this section of the population the "near poor."