Poverty In The US

Poverty in the U.S. 58.5% $22,350 Percentage of Americans that will spend at least one year below the poverty line between the ages of 25 and 75 Poverty level for 2011 (annual income) for a family of four The most common measure of poverty in the United States is the "poverty threshold" set by the U.S. government. This measure recognizes poverty as a lack of those goods and services commonly taken for granted by members of mainstream society. The official threshold is adjusted for inflation using the consumer price index. Increase of 43.6 million Americans living in poverty from 2008 to 2009 39.8 million 2008 2009 Single parent households Married families Living alone People living in poverty in 2007 5.8% 26.6% 19.1% Among married families: Among single parent families: Among those living alone: 5.4% white persons 30% white persons 18% white persons 8.3% black persons 40% black persons 27.9% black persons 14.9% hispanic persons 30% hispanic persons 27% hispanic persons 2008 U.S. Census Ethnic Breakdown of 13.2% Living in Poverty 8.6% 11.8% 24.79% 23.2% 24.2% European Americans Asian Americans Hispanics American Indians/Alaska Natives African Americans Breakdown of Poverty by Age (2007) 18% 10.9% 18 and under 19-64 years old 9.7% 65 and older Americans Living in Food Insecure Homes (2009) 33 million 884,000 17.2 million Households belonging to seniors living alone and lacking food security Adults Children =80,000 households Feeding America provides emergency food assistance to approximately 5.7 million different people per week. States with Significantly Higher Household Food Insecurity Rates 4 1) Arkansas - 17.7% Texas - 17.4% Mississippi - 17.1% Georgia - 15.6% North Carolina - 14.8% sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_the_United_States#Numbers_in_other_countries http://feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/hunger-facts/hunger-and-poverty-statistics.aspx