The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics has stated that although poverty is usually associated with unemployment, a significant portion of the poor are actually employed (see also DeNavas-Walt, Proctor and Smith, 2009). ). Due to their low wages, the working poor face countless obstacles that make it difficult to find and maintain employment, cover basic expenses, and achieve a sense of security (Cross, 2010 ; Kalleberg, 2011; The official working poverty rate in the United States has remained stable over the past four decades (Hoynes, 2005). However, some researchers disagree with this stability and believe that the official definition is too low as the proportion of workers facing financial difficulties has increased over the years (Bordoff et al., 2007; Sandoval , 2009; Wicks-Lim, 2010). . Others argue that changes in the economy (i.e., the shift from a manufacturing-based economy to a service-based economy) have resulted in labor market polarization ( Autor, Katz and Kearney, 2006; This means that even though there are more jobs at both ends of the income scale, there are fewer jobs in the middle (Kalleberg,