Map Showing Poverty Levels Around the EBR Area

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And those kinds of investments are what people especially need in the aftermath of a disaster, said Sarah Berthelot, president and CEO of the Louisiana Association of United Ways.

"It raises concerns about the Louisiana family's ability to weather crisis, let alone plan for the future," she said.

While the federal poverty level for a family of four in 2014 was $23,850, the number crunching in the report reveals that a family of four in Louisiana needs at least $46,240 to cover the most basic costs of living.

Even that budget would give a two-parent home with an infant and a preschooler just $727 a month to spend on housing, $795 a month for child care and $550 a month to put food on the table, according to the report's formula.

To make enough money to scrape by on what the report deems a "household survival budget," one of the parents in a family of four would need to earn $23.12 an hour at a full-time job. However, jobs paying that well can be difficult to find. Low-wage jobs dominate Louisiana's economy, the report says, with 68 percent of all jobs in the state paying under $20 an hour.

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