Poverty in America is on the Rise

Poverty has reached a new thirty-two year high in America. This includes those people living in severe poverty. It has also been reported that the gap between the have and the have nots has also been widened.

It is estimated that around 16 million (15.9) people are living in extreme poverty. In the year 2005, a family of four living on an income average of $8,000 or less was considered to be living below poverty income. 

The number of severely poor Americans has increased by 26 percent since the year 2000. This increase in poverty extends from the urban areas to the suburban areas on out to the rural areas all over the United States.

Even though productivity has increased since the slump in 2001, wages and job growths have not. This may be due, in part, to the fact that more of the corporate profits are going to the leaders and not the wage earners. Consequently, with inflation figured into the picture, the average household income of the working class people has decreased in the past five years. This boils down to 43 percent of the 37 million people in poverty are considered extremely poor. Just where do all these people live?

3.5 million Of the nearly 16 million extremely poor live in the western part of the United States 3.1 occupy the Midwest, 6.5 million are from the south, while 2.8 million are in the northeast area.

6.8 of these extremely poor people are men, with the women making up the difference of 9.1 million.

Children under the age of five total 1.9 million
Children between the ages of 5-17 include 3.7 million.
In the age bracket of 18-65, there are 9.4 million extremely poor people.
The over 65 age group makes up the remaining 0.9 million.

This report is the reflection of how hard it is for lower-skilled people to compete in a work force that requires more skilled and educated workers. It is also a reflection of how the government has failed to help these individual rises above their situations