Younger workers are the most vulnerable to being poor.
In 1997, workers under the age of 25 had poverty rates about twice the overall rate. Among workers age 16 to 19 years, 11.6 percent lived below the poverty level in 1997. These rates were approximately twice the average of 5.7 percent for all workers. Poverty rates of workers generally declined with age. Workers 65 and older had the lowest poverty rate of all, at 2.7 percent.