According to the U.S. Census, 44 million people in the United States were living in poverty in 2009, or 14.3 percent, the highest level in 15 years. This represented an increase of four million additional people living below the official poverty line or one in seven residents. The situation is even worse for children, as one in five children is now living in poverty.
Of course, the official poverty line is artificially low: for a single adult in 2009, the poverty line was $10,830 in pretax cash income; for a family of four, $22,050. Many people earning more than this are also poor, especially in cities with high housing costs.
This significant increase in poverty is an inevitable product of the capitalist system’s crisis of overproduction, when commodities can not be sold for a profit, leading the bosses to lay off workers.
