The term “working poor“ means that although people have a job, they still suffer from poverty. While this phenomenon has been around for years in the United States, for example, it is totally new in Austria. Some of these working poor people have a 40-hour job and still do not earn enough money to cover their living expenses.
Studies have shown that especially pensioners, single parents and homeless people run a higher risk ofbbeing poor. But a recent study by Roland Verwiebe and Nina-Sophie Fritsch, who both work in the department of sociology at the university of Vienna, reveals that even people who have a full-time job can't be certain that they’ll be earning enough money to live. These people earn only 60 percent of the average income in Austria. In 2008 this meant € 950 before taxes. After taxes it’s even lower. Of course, there are a lot of differences which need to be considered. One, for example, is the difference between Austrians and immigrants. Immigrants run a much higher risk of suffering from poverty than Austrians. Furthermore, the risk for women of becoming poor is twice as high as the risk for men. Those professions that are most likely to fall into the working poor category are hair stylists, cleaning people, bank employees or farmers. (cf. Science.orf.at, 2011)
As a student, I know how difficult it is to not have a lot of money. A few hundred euros a month have to be enough to cover rent, car insurance, internet, mobile phone and food of course. But I also know that it's possible to live a decent life with way less than a thousand euros. Of course, I can not afford to go out for dinner every night, but do I really have to do that? I can buy groceries for a week for less than €40 and my apartment doesn't have to be top-notch necessarily.
However, it is well known that money plays a major role in determining someone’s quality of life. People who have to worry about money can not enjoy their lives as much as people who earn a lot. And I can only imagine how people who work 40 hours a week and still don't have enough money to pay their living expenses might feel. At work they probably think about the money they will have earned by the end of the day and at home they probably think about the bills they have to pay. What kind of life is that? How is it still be possible, nowadays, that even with a secure full-time job one does not earn enough money to live without having to worry about paying the bills?
I know that there will always be differences in salaries depending on the status one has in a company. But do managers really have to earn thousands and thousands of euros per month while their subordinates often don't know where they’re going to come up with next month's rent? Those who are in the lucky position of having an income that pays not only for their own exquisite lifestyle but also that of their family don't think about the people on the other end of the income spectrum/scale. If the owners of companies thought less about maximizing profits for themselves and more about increasing the quality of life for their workers, even by a little bit, then studies like the one by Verwiebe and Fritsch wouldn't have to be conducted. And for the Austrians “working poor” could remain a foreign term.
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