Stress and the working poor

Introduction

Recently, more and more reasons to examine the working poor group have been emerging. The concept of the working poor has been brought to public notice and many researchers are starting to deal with it. It is important to study this group in more detail, as the number of working poor people has been increasing despite rises in the minimum wage. Recent studies show that low-income-related stress affects many aspects of the lives of the working poor, from physical health to state of mind. All this affects the family, particularly children who perceive all these changes.

Working poor

Wójcik‐Żołądek (2013) coined the term “working poor” in the 1970s in the United States of America. The term and especially problems of low earnings appeared in Europe twenty years later (Karásková, 2014).

The working poor are still a vaguely defined group of people. Current research shows that there are two indicators for evaluating the working poor. One of them is the so-called poverty line, defined as a specific percentage of mean income in a given country (usually 50% or 60%). The other indicator is the minimum wage. The working poor often work in part-time jobs, with wages around the minimum wage level. Unfortunately, even people working in full-time jobs often have incomes bordering on poverty level. Despite this, people are increasingly choosing to work, even in less stable jobs with minimum income levels, rather than be unemployed. Work offers them a barrier against falling into social exclusion. Sahlins (1974, p. 37) states the following about poverty: “Poverty is not little property; it is not the relation between aspirations and available resources. It is primarily the relation between people. Poverty is social status.” It may guide us in thinking about how poverty can be understood: whether as material deprivation, or state of mind or the individual’s status in society. If we want to eliminate poverty and first of all identify who is at risk of poverty, it is important to find the specific point at which people fall into poverty. Unfortunately, there are still many definitions and measurements of poverty, and there is no single generally accepted method of measuring and defining it (Mareš & Rabušič, 1996). Level of poverty and poverty itself are very often defined by the person who feels poor. If subjective poverty is to be measured, the standard of living of those who feel subjectively poor should be measured too. This brings us to the standard of living of working poor people whose lives are affected by their low incomes. When comparing poverty and working poor people, we must be aware that there is a difference between these concepts. If we want to define somebody as a working poor person, we usually view that person’s situation individually, looking at the average hourly or monthly pay. On the other hand, when defining poverty, we view the household as a whole and assess the income of the whole family, usually over a year or quarter of a year.

There are also other factors affecting whether a person on a low income will be classified as a working poor person. According to the European Commission, there are four key factors. As already mentioned, whether the person is in part-time or full-time work and whether the work pattern is stable over the year are important. Furthermore, whether there is another income in the household is important. Household expenditure and the number of dependant persons, primarily children, are also important. Taxes and state transfers have a considerable impact on this group of people too (McKnight, Stewart, Himmelweit, & Palillo, 2016).

A German study carried out in 1995–2012 dealt with the increasing proportion of low-income jobs and the effect of this on unemployed people who need to escape the poverty trap. Plum’s (2016) findings suggest that such jobs do at least give long-term unemployed people a route out of the poverty trap. Strengmann-Kuhn (2002) views the issue of the working poor similarly, stating that the working poor are people on salaries below a specific level. That level could be the poverty line, minimum wage or a percentage of the average salary. People who are working poor do not have the opportunity to build a career, but remain deprived and frustrated, and, as Standing (2011) states, they are vulnerable to political manipulation.

In 2007, about 8% of employees were categorized as working poor in the European Union. This percentage was obtained through research showing that the incomes of working poor people were below 60% of the country mean. According to statistics from 2007, this category included 4% of employees in the Czech Republic, which is lower than the European Union average. Although employed people are at a lower risk of poverty than unemployed people, the risk persists (Hanzl-Weiß & Vidovic, 2010).

Researchers are also discussing the potential involvement of the European Union in minimum income protections. One suggestion is that the European Union could impose a guaranteed minimum income of 40% or 60% of the mean national pension. Guaranteeing a minimum income would of course involve balancing rights and obligations, such as the obligation to seek employment, which affects all persons considered as having the capacity to work. However, the member states have their own principles, which cannot be circumvented under subsidiarity. Therefore, the right to a minimum income would have to be defined as a general principal at the European Union level, so that member states would be obliged to legislate upon it (Vandenbroucke et al., 2013).

Methods

This research review is based on an analysis of data acquired from academic articles available in the SCOPUS, Ebsco, and Web of Science databases; I used Google Scholar as well. The selection criteria was used to identify the key words inputted into the database. A research review was conducted summarizing the problems resulting from low-income stress.

When searching, I mainly used the phrases: “working poor” and “stress”. For example when the key word “working poor” was entered into the SCOPUS database, 620 results were obtained over a four-year period. The Ebsco database provided more than 1,500 results for a four-year period. The most recent articles, from 2011–2017 were selected. Further, I used the most relevant articles and websites covering stress and the working poor; the Google Scholar database was used to find these.

Conclusion

The goal of this research review was to highlight a whole spectrum of problems resulting from low-waged-related stress and income levels bordering on the poverty line. The working poor account for about 8% in Europe and about 4% in the Czech Republic of all working people.

As is evident, working poor people face physical, mental and social problems due to their low incomes. Physical problems primarily result from a lack of sleep and poor-quality sleep, which may lead to cardiovascular problems and some metabolic risks.

Furthermore, gastrointestinal problems can be a result of buying and consuming low-quality food, or of food stress and unhealthy eating habits. Incomes close to the minimum wage level make many people’s life situations difficult, with increased stress levels that contribute to mental problems and may lead to depressive symptoms and anxiety disorders. Last but not least, the problems of working poor people have transgenerational effects, impacting on children and the whole family climate. Their children have a so-called deficit of emotional well-being, and the extent of their leisure time is determined by the number of hours spent working. All that has an impact on their social acceptance by those around them and on their life prospects.

Working poor people on low incomes experience huge stress levels and it has been proved that they have a lower average length of life. Liberation from stress is indispensable to good health and well-being.

It is important to monitor this topic and to continue studying working poor people, not only separately but also within countries and within the context of social policies.