Extreme Poverty In The U.S. Has Doubled In The Last 15 Years

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/03/06/438907/extreme-poverty-doubled-15-years/

By Pat Garofalo posted from ThinkProgress Economy on Mar 6, 2012 at 8:00 pm

According to the latest Census Bureau data, nearly 50 percent of Americans are either low-income or living in poverty in the wake of the Great Recession. And a new study from the National Poverty Center shows just how deep in poverty some of those people are, finding that the number of households living on less than $2 per day (before government benefits) has more than doubled in the last 15 years:

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While extreme poverty doubled overall, it tripled amongst female headed households. Of course, there’s always the tact taken North Carolina Republican State Representative George Cleveland last week, who simply denied that anyone in his state lives in extreme poverty. As we noted at the time, “the 728,842 North Carolinians who are classified as living in deep poverty might take issue with that assessment.”

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