Ethnicity and race plays a role when it comes to poverty, wage gapes and low-income status. And according to a new study, while Latinos with a high school diploma might earn more than other non-Latino whites without degrees, they're still living at or below the poverty line.

According to a recently published statistical fact sheet from The Working Poor Families Project, there are 10.4 million families with children that make less than the federal poverty level, and they're considered low-income earners. And 58 percent of these families happen to be non-white, despite non-white families only representing 40 percent of families nationwide.

In order to cover basic household expenses, a family of three should be making twice the specified $20,090 amount, and families of six should make twice the $32,570 benchmark. Latinos represent 30 percent of the families, making just twice the federal level, and they represent 17 percent of the U.S. population. Twenty-two percent are black families and 6 percent are other nonwhite families. Fifty-five percent of Hispanic families and 49 percent of black families happen to fall into the category of low-income earners with lower levels of educational attainment. Comparably, fewer than 1 in 4 working white and Asian families are low-income.

The U.S. Census Bureau indicates that the federal poverty rate was at 14.5 percent in 2013, down from 15 percent the year before, and has likely continued to decrease. However, the poverty is still pronounced enough to affect the economic well-being of millions, who are disproportionately Latino and African American.

There are 24 million children in working poor families, and more than 60 percent of those children are non-white, according to the National Center for Children in Poverty. That financial instability translates into the truancy in favor of jobs. It means that busy households are less likely to have home-cooked meals and fresh fruits and vegetables on the kitchen table for growing children's consumption. And it means limited access to proper child care, health care and essential transportation needs. Conclusions offered on the fact sheet conclusion suggests, without education assistance or rigorous policies that enforce labor force equality, Latino children will grow up to be their low-wage earning parents.

According to report published by the Urban Institute several years ago, eight percent of low-income households have a self-employed adult, and 72 percent of all low-income households with children have at least one employed adult, but that does not mean they are working full-time. Fifty-five percent of Latino families are likely to have a full-time working adult, compared to 44 percent of African Americans and 43 percent of whites. That said, low-income whites tend to earn more than money than Latinos because Latino workers often enroll in low-paying professions such as housekeeping, food prep, retail salesmen, building cleaners and health care assistance.

The structure of a family also plays the role in the way poverty and low-income affects a family. Married couples lead 53 percent of low-income Latino households, while the same can only be said of 42 percent of white families and 18 percent of black families. Also, Latino families are most likely to have additional family members in their homes; it being more common among single-parent households (which variably earn $10,000 less depending on race. The presence of additional adults can translate into childcare assistance, additional financial contribution or home maintenance. However, additional adults don't necessarily improve the well-being of a group. The most successful homes tend to be those headed by two parents; this is true across race and income; and it's evident by the fact that 59 percent of single-parent homes are low-income households.

In many ways low-income Hispanic families tend to fare better than others due to their family structure. Latinos household are more likely to be headed by married parents --this is particularly true when it comes to homes with at least one immigrant family. But, failing to attain a high school education means that Hispanic workers earn less than those with degrees. Even so, they tend to earn more than other ethnic groups without degrees.

That said, those without degrees are nearly guaranteed to be low-income earners, and more than half of low-income Latino households have individuals without high school diplomas at the helm, which lowest among any other racial or ethnic group. This is particularly true of Latino men.

Another important factor when discussing low-income families is to recognize that 63 percent of children living with foreign-born parents live in low-income homes, compared to 41 percent of children of those living with U.S. born parents. And that percentage increases significantly when Latino parents are concerned because of the unique challenges that this group faces. Often, when there's a matter of low-income households and foreign-born parents, there are likely concerns over legal status. And without legal status, government sources are not made available to these families.

Being poor means that it can be difficult to earn enough to make ends meet, and it's nearly impossible to develop self-sufficiency. The study's conclusions indicate that changing outcomes is a matter of implementing career training to create a well-qualified workforce, developing education attainment program and launching language skills initiatives to promote access to success.

Also, identifying other disadvantages, such as disabilities, transportation issues, childcare needs, language and job placement could improve outcomes. Government programs could do more to aid low-income communities by increasing the minimum wage, enlarging financial aid for college, increasing the number of career centers and expanding Medicaid.

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