San Francisco (Obama.net)-With the economic crisis of late 2008, it should come as no surprise to the people of the United States that 2009 ended up being a financially difficult year for many Americans.
In the United States, poverty is defined as a family of four people with a net income of less than 21,954 dollars and as a single person who makes less than $10,956 in one year. The poverty rate in 2009 hit 14.3 percent, the highest point seen since 1994 when Bill Clinton was Head of State.
Poverty rates went up for all ethnicities in the United States other than Asian Americans.
The high numbers were projected by the Census Bureau and did not surprise anyone after the economic crash that preceded the year.
President Barack Obama responded to the numbers by saying that “even before the recession hit, middle class incomes had been stagnant and the number of people living in poverty in America was unacceptably high, and today’s numbers make it clear that our work is just beginning.”
Obama also said that the figures show “just how tough 2009 was” for the citizens of the United States.
In 2009, unemployment also skyrocketed from a not too bad 7.7 percent to a high of 10.1 percent in October before decreasing slightly to ten percent for the rest of the calendar year.
Obama’s economic stimulus was responsible for keeping many above the poverty line and in their homes.
Members of the Brookings Institution from Washington predict that the poverty rate will jump to 16 percent by 2020 with an additional ten million citizens of the United States below the line.
The poverty rate for children under 18 years old in the United States rose higher than all other age groups in 2009 to 20.7 percent.
The South had the highest poverty rate at 15.7 percent.
Regionally, the Northeastern United States had the lowest rate at 12.2 percent.
Mississippi, Arizona, and New Mexico topped the list as the three states with the highest poverty rates, with Mississippi being the only one with over twenty percent below the line.
New Hampshire had the lower poverty rate with only 7.3 percent under the line. New Hampshire was followed by Connecticut and Utah.
As more jobs are being created, the cost of living in the United States is growing too and many jobs do not provide enough pay to live up to the standard of living in the United States of America.
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