WORKING IN THE COAL MINE, GOING DOWN DOWN DOWN

Okay, the odds of anyone in your family perishing in a terrorist attack are unknown but probably miniscule in a national population close to 300 million. But every day, every family in America, with the exception of the wealthy, is concerned with wages, which provide the essentials: food, shelter, education and healthcare. Success is not all about "hard work" -- witness the fact that too many American families are working harder than ever and falling further behind:

Coming next week are the results of a new study that shows - here at home - how tough a time American families are having in their never-ending struggle to put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads. The White House, as deep in denial about the economy as it is about Iraq, insists that things are fine - despite the embarrassing fact that President Bush is on track to become the first president since Herbert Hoover to preside over a net loss of jobs during his four years in office.

The study, jointly sponsored by the Annie E. Casey, Ford and Rockefeller Foundations, will show that 9.2 million working families in the United States - one out of every four - earn wages that are so low they are barely able to survive financially.