Hovering Above Poverty, Grasping for Middle Class

"I might have to be forced to move back to Texas," Delgado said, "because I won't be able to afford to live in Florida." .

While they were both working, Delgado and her husband were able to eat out at least weekly, but no longer. They also sent about $50 to her husband's mother in Mexico every other week, a practice that they have cut back drastically. They have stopped using one of their cars, and last month they took a load of DVDs, jewelry and other valuables to a pawn shop "so that I could put food on the table," Delgado said.

Even with the change in fortune, Delgado, who calls herself deeply religious, is confident it all will work out. "Everything's going to turn out okay," she said. "I always say that the Lord doesn't give you more than you can handle."

Her reliance on faith is a common one: The vast majority of those polled said religion or their faith in God plays an important role in helping them through financial straits.

Nearly half of low-wage workers said their personal financial situations have deteriorated under President Bush, while only 11 percent said things have improved. And a slim majority said that when it comes to getting good jobs, the nation's best years are in the past, not the future.

That view was more likely to be expressed by those who have a high school education or less than by those who have attended college. The gap is not surprising, given education's growing correlation with income. In 1973, the nation's top 20 percent of wage earners were as likely to be high school graduates as college graduates. College graduates now outnumber high school graduates by 4 to 1 in that income bracket.

Placing Blame

Although they feel increasingly squeezed, just 3 in 10 low-wage workers blame their employers for their plight, while 6 in 10 said they are responsible for their own financial situation. A similar proportion said people can get ahead by working hard.

But they are also unsparing in their view of the federal government. The vast majority said the federal government bears at least some responsibility for their situation, and 2 of 3 said the same about corporate America. More than half said that government programs aimed at helping working families "aren't having much impact," while another 2 in 10 said they are actually making things worse.

At the same time, many low-wage workers benefit from multibillion-dollar government programs aimed at helping them. About half said they took the Earned Income Tax Credit last year, which supplements the income of low-wage families, and about half of those with children said they received health care for their children through Medicaid or the State Children's Health Insurance Program, which is jointly funded by the federal government and the states.

Crystal Willis, 21, a sales associate in Oklahoma City, is one of those who benefits from a public safety net. "I make a decent amount, but I don't make enough to support our family," she said. "The baby's on WIC [the federal Women, Infants and Children program] so we can afford our formula. If I had to pay for everything, we'd barely be making it, if we were making it at all."

Also, Congress last year approved the first increase in the federal minimum wage in a decade. The second phase of the increase went into effect in July, raising the minimum wage to $6.55 a hour -- less than the inflation-adjusted 1997 level of $6.88. Nonetheless, it meant pay raises for an estimated 2 million U.S. workers, according to Holly Sklar, director of Business for Shared Prosperity, a Boston group that advocates for policies that reduce economic inequality. Despite their dissatisfaction with government, majorities of poll respondents said the government should make it a "top priority" to get them more affordable health insurance, cheaper gas, financial assistance for higher education and public works jobs.

Nearly half of low-wage workers said illegal immigrants take jobs from legal residents, and half of those believe that they are jobs that residents would want. Still, only 1 in 5 said that they or their family have been hurt by illegal immigration.