U.S. Census Bureau Reveals Shocking Poverty Statistics

The U.S. Census Bureau find that it underestimated those teetering on the line of poverty, the new measure of poverty released this month found that one in three Americans are either in or close to poverty.

The new measure shows that 51 million Americans have an income of less than 50 percent above the poverty line, reports The New York Times. This new number is 76 percent higher than the previous official account released in September. In summary, 100 million people are either in poverty or are hovering just above it.

Per the request of The New York Times, the Census Bureau produced this analysis of the near poor two week ago, and the results even were surprising to them.

“These numbers are higher than we anticipated,” said Trudi J. Renwick, the bureau’s chief poverty statistician. “There are more people struggling than the official numbers show.”

Below is  a visual representation of the amount of Americans facing poverty through the years:

Those who are considered “near poor” most often work full-time jobs, own homes, pay taxes, and appear “normal,” but the reality is they are only making enough to survive and are inching closer to losing everything they spent their lives working to have.

Everyone likes to think that they will never fall into poverty, but the sad truth is the economy is not getting much better anytime soon.

Just last year 2.6 millions fell into poverty, a new record. One out of seven Americans is forced to resort to obtaining food stamps to feed their families. Although everyone struck by poverty is hurting, it’s the kids who we really have to worry about.

The current national poverty rate has reached and all time high at 15.3 percent, and the unemployment rate is around 9 percent.

Recently, 60 Minutes did a story on extreme poverty conditions. The story focused in on one Florida school where 15 children’s families were crammed into cars because they no longer had a home.

I recommend watching it below, but I warn you that it is heart wrenching. It's one thing to look at the numbers and charts, but an entirely different one to see poverty play out on the faces on children...

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