This study was conducted to determine how many workers are in low-wage jobs; their characteristics and changes in their characteristics over time; the characteristics of the low-wage jobs; gender, sex, and racial factors influencing participation in low-wage jobs; and the relationship of low-wage work to family poverty and welfare receipt. The study used samples from two major nationally representative data sets, the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) and the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), which were analyzed using trend analysis, spell analysis, and regression analysis. Some of the findings of the study were the following: (1) over the decade from 1975 through 1984, both the number and proportion of adults working at low wages have increased, with approximately one-fourth of all adult workers working for $5.30 per hour or less in 1984; (2) the increase in low-wage work has occurred disproportionately among women, mothers responsible for children, and racial and ethnic minority groups; (3) holding constant human capital and job factors, low-wage work is still unequally distributed by gender and race/ethnicity; and (4) human capital factors (experience, education) are less significant for minority and female low-wage workers than for white males in determining their wages. The study concluded that these findings raise a number of policy issues that need to be addressed by policy-makers in many fields, including education, job training, and welfare, as well as for employers. (27 references) (KC)