To the editors:
In 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics classified 6.4 million people as “working poor,” meaning they worked for most of the year yet still lived below the federal poverty line. These are not people excluded from the workforce — they are the workforce.
This reality challenges a deeply rooted belief that poverty is the result of individual failure. In truth, many working families are doing everything expected of them and still cannot keep up with rising costs. Wages have not kept pace with basic living expenses, while housing, health care and child care continue to increase across Oklahoma and the nation. According to the Oklahoma Policy Institute, nearly half of Oklahoma households struggle to afford basic necessities.
In Oklahoma, this gap is especially visible in low-wage sectors and rural communities where employment is steady, but financial security is not guaranteed. Full-time work does not necessarily translate into the ability to afford rent, transportation or medical care.Â
The burden is not evenly shared. Families with children, women-led households and communities of color experience higher rates of working poverty. Individuals with mental health conditions are also significantly more likely to experience poverty, often due to barriers in maintaining consistent employment and accessing care.
As a social worker, I see the consequences of this every day. The people I work with are not lacking effort or responsibility. They are working, budgeting, sacrificing and still falling behind. Financial skills building and short-term support can help stabilize households, but they cannot fix wages that do not reflect the cost of survival or jobs that lack meaningful security.Â
When workers have stronger wages, economic mobility increases. When workers have stronger protections, families become more stable. When workers have a real voice in shaping their working conditions, communities become stronger.Â
If Oklahoma is serious about addressing poverty, we must move beyond temporary or punitive solutions and toward policy change. That means raising wages to match the real cost of living, strengthening workplace protections, and ensuring that full-time work leads to stability — not ongoing financial crisis.Â
Oklahomans have a choice. We can continue to assume that hard work is enough, or we can acknowledge what the data already show: Many working people are still struggling because the system is not built to support them. In Oklahoma, our motto is “Hard Work Conquers All,” yet nearly one in seven residents live in poverty.
I am calling on Oklahoma voters and policymakers to support reforms that strengthen wages, protect workers and ensure that full-time employment provides real economic security. In a state that values hard work, we must ensure that hard work is actually enough to live on.
Jessica Phillips
Stillwater
MSW student, University of Oklahoma
(Editor’s note: NonDoc runs Letters to the Editors of approximately 300 to 500 words. NonDoc reserves the right to edit lightly for length, style and grammar. We value a diverse set of voices respectfully discussing issues from different perspectives. To submit a letter for publication, please write to letters@nondoc.com.)
