And consumer borrowing is at very high levels, having risen particularly among lower-income households.

Less than half of the rise in pay among lower-income households comes from actual wage increases.

You would see a lot fewer lower-income households," she says.

Mr. Vallone has also proposed a plan to provide free health care for children from poor and lower-income households.

They may also be a tool to draw lower-income households online and into the financial mainstream.

Since the amount of income subject to those taxes is capped, they affect lower-income households more than wealthier families.

The figures also show that lower-income households are more - not less - likely to be hit than homes in which income exceeds $25,000.

He lives with his family in a small trailer home suggesting he comes from a lower-income household.

It is not sensitive to levels of income and penalises lower-income households.