The U.S. poverty rate remained at historic highs for the third year running in 2012— unchanged from 2011 at 15%, with 46.5 million people poor. The poverty rate was roughly as high as it has been in any year since 1965, but it has been lower than one would expect from looking at the record high rates of long-term unemployment following the Great Recession.
The nation's official poverty rate in 2012 was 15%, the Census Bureau reports, which means 46.5 million people living at or below the poverty line ($23,492 for a family of four). The 2012 poverty rate was 2.5 percentage points higher than in 2007, the year before the recession began. 2012 is the second consecutive year that the poverty rate and the number of people in poverty remained stuck in place. The family poverty rate was also unchanged at 11.8%, or 9.5 million families living in poverty.
Source: Census Bureau, 9/17,13, Poverty; Urban Institute, 9/17/13, Poverty II
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