A statistical profile of the working poor in Chicago (Illinois) and the proceedings of the Working Poor Policy Forum held to discuss the findings of the profile are presented. In America it is supposed to be impossible to work and remain chronically poor, but in fact this is not the case. There are many ways to define the income working families need to be fully independent of any government incentive or assistance, but this project defined 150% of the official poverty line as the income criterion for defining the working poor. This was $19,011 for a family of four in Chicago. The service sector employed the largest portion of the working poor in Chicago, 55% of whom were in families headed by women. African Americans comprised 33.4% of Chicago's working poor, and Hispanics were 28.6%. Participants in the policy forum took varying positions on the issue that low wages were the predictable result of low job skills, but few disagreed that lack of skills was a problem. Participants devoted much of their attention to the problem of upgrading skills. How to enable the working poor to develop the attributes they need to take advantage of the opportunities of the future is the critical question for public policy. (Contains one table and five figures.) (SLD)