Page "Working poor" Paragraph 13

There are various ways in which institutions and scholars operationalize the concept of work in their definitions of working poverty.

Some define a working person as someone who has worked or looked for work for at least half of the past year.

Others restrict their definition of work to current employment, leaving out those who are unemployed and looking for work.

Still others will look at work as a family or household characteristic, rather than an individual characteristic.

According to these definitions of work, a non-working spouse or child who lives with a working person will be classified as working.