Poverty USA: The facts
Poverty USA: The State of Poverty in America
The official poverty rate in 2009 was 14.3 percent — up from 13.2 percent in 2008. This was the second statistically significant annual increase in the poverty rate since 2004.
In 2009, 43.6 million people were in poverty, up from 39.8 million in 2008 — the third consecutive annual increase in the number of people in poverty.
Between 2000-2008, the number of poor Americans grew by more than nine million.
The number of people living in extreme poverty, that is, those with incomes below half the poverty line, rose to over 17 million people. That is the highest level on record since data first became available in 1975.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division: 2008
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