"I'm working my fingers to the bone," said Lamont, 29, as he shopped at the Super Dollar in downtown Raleigh on Tuesday. His wife works, too, but the couple stretch to make ends meet.

"Imagine if I had a kid right now," he said.

The Triangle is the most expensive place in the state for those with children, according to a report released Tuesday. On average, a Wake County family must earn $50,435 a year to cover basic needs, calculations by the N.C. Budget & Tax Center showed. About a quarter of families in the county make less than that, according to 2006 census data.

Orange, Durham and Chatham rounded out the most costly counties, followed by Mecklenburg, which includes Charlotte.

In the state overall, a family needs an average $41,184 annually to get by -- almost twice the federal poverty threshold for a family of four, according to the report. The Budget & Tax Center, which advocates for the poor and middle-income, concluded that 1.4 million people in the state live in families that make less than its calculated standard.

"This really reaches to a fundamental part of the American social contract, the idea that if you work hard, in return you'll be able to support yourself and your family," said John Quinterno, the report's author. "The fact that that the promise isn't holding for a sizeable number of families is cause for alarm."

He reviewed the cost of seven core expenses including housing, food and child care for his research, which is part of a periodic assessment of families' financial well-being. It has taken on more import this year because of the deteriorating health of the U.S. economy.

The nation's financial system is struggling because of problems in the housing market and tightened credit markets. Joblessness has increased as companies pare their rolls to account for slumping demand. Food and fuel prices are rising, straining family budgets.

Shopping with care

"You're definitely more conscious of things," said Caroline Parker, 35, as she shopped for groceries with her 2-year-old daughter, Lilli Kate, on Tuesday. Her husband, who works in the technology industry, provides the sole income for the Raleigh family of four.

"I've noticed since the first of the year, it seems like everything is going up," she said. "I'm much more careful about when I shop and where."

This area's economy has stayed stronger than the rest of the state and nation amid the slowdown. In January, the most recent statistics available, unemployment was 3.9 percent for the Triangle. It was 4.9 percent for both the state and nation.

But all sectors and all people are not equally insulated, forcing some to make tough choices.

Lamont, a lifelong Raleigh resident, said he senses more stress in the community. "A lot of people with jobs are not meeting the cost of living," he said.

At the Shepherd's Table in Raleigh, demand for the center's free lunches has increased 4 percent during the past month, said executive director Tamara Gregory. It's serving almost triple the people it did at the same time last year.

More worrisome for Gregory, though, is the type of people seeking help. They're not just the disabled or unemployed.

"We get the parking people that work for the city of Raleigh," Gregory said. "They say, 'You know, I'm embarrassed to come here.' We've got a lot of construction workers coming in."

Social service agencies across the Triangle report higher demand for their assistance. In Orange County, for instance, the Food and Nutrition Services program has seen its caseload increase about 8 percent since February 2007.

The Budget & Tax Center plans to use its report to push for changes at the legislature, which reconvenes for a short session in May. It wants more programs, such as child care subsidies, to help low-wage workers. It wants higher standards for employers, such as a paid sick-day requirement.

Employers hurting, too

But some employers say the problems hurting workers are hurting them, too. Joe McGarry doesn't pay benefits for his employees at Cary-based Gloves-Online, which sells hundreds of types of gloves via the Internet.

"I couldn't afford it," he said. "We used to manufacture gloves here in Cary, and we had a huge manufacturing facility. We had like 23 people in three shifts. But we're under pressure from the forces of China."

Another solution, according to the Budget & Tax Center, is increased training for workers. The theory: Those with more skills can apply for higher-paying jobs and more easily cover the costs of living.

Joe Raines, 52, of Fuquay-Varina is enrolled at Wake Technical Community College for that reason. In the past 10 years, he has been laid off three times from jobs in electronics manufacturing. At one time, he made as much as $20 an hour. Now he's drawing unemployment benefits.

He's retraining for biotechnology or pharmaceutical jobs, which are increasing in the Triangle. It's an expensive place to live, he said, but there is a trade-off.

"If the good positions are going to be available, they're going to be available in this area," he said.

(News researcher Paulette Stiles contributed to this report.)