While work is often the best pathway out of poverty, employment does not
always guarantee an adequate living standard. At the outset of the current
economic downturn, the risk of in-work poverty was significant in most
OECD countries. Indeed, most working-age persons living in poverty were
part of a household containing at least one worker. While the social safety
nets in place substantially weaken the link between weak labour-market
outcomes and poverty in virtually all OECD countries, the current jobs
crisis is undoubtedly nudging poverty rates higher among the working-age
population in many countries. Many workers have lost their job or work fewer
hours, two situations that raise the risk of poverty.