Poverty isn’t just an international problem. The recent economic downturn has highlighted a deepening domestic struggle to stay afloat.
- The U.S. Census Bureau revealed statistics showing that the blight of poverty is spreading throughout the country, especially in the Western and Midwestern states.
- Many of the newly impoverished Americans are children, even as two-worker households are increasingly seeking assistance in the form of food stamps.
- Areas with the greatest increase in poverty rate are the same areas that have seen many jobs and wages disappear in the recession.
Facts & Figures
- For 2008 data collection purposes, a family of four with two children is considered to be below the poverty line when they earn less than a total of $22,000 a year.
- In 2008, the poverty rate increased in 31 states; 2007 saw an increase in only 10 states. Only Michigan saw its poverty rate increase in both 2007 and 2008.
- The national rate of poverty is 13.2%, but the highest rate in the country can be found in Mississippi (21.2%), followed by Kentucky, West Virginia, and Arkansas (at about 17% each).
Best Quote
“There are lots of people who are using food stamps for the first time, because they don’t have any other options.” – Mark Mather, Demographer at the Population Reference Bureau