New 2008 poverty, income data reveal only tip of the recession iceberg

By Heidi Shierholz
Economic Policy Institute, Sep 10 2009

An additional 2.6 million people slipped below the poverty line, as the poverty rate increased from 12.5% to 13.2% between 2007 and 2008. Poverty is now at a higher rate than the country faced four decades ago, in 1968...
Furthermore, it is important to note that the federal poverty threshold as currently measured is widely understood by poverty researchers to be a vastly outdated and inadequate measure... Poverty experts often use twice the poverty line as a more accurate threshold for material deprivation... In 2008, 31.9% —96 million people — were living below the twice-poverty threshold... The number was even higher for children, with 40.6% of children — 30.1 million kids — living below the twice-poverty line.

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