43.6 Million Americans (One in Seven) in Living in Poverty

The spike in poverty levels is the largest since the government started keeping records, just over five decades ago.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/poverty-rate-increases-recession-highest-level-1994-census/story?id=11652753

"One in seven Americans are living in poverty, the U.S. Census Bureau reported today -- the highest level since 1994.
...
An estimated 43.6 million Americans in 2009 were living off incomes below the federal poverty line, or around $11,000 for an individual under 65 or $22,000 for a family of four.

The total number, an increase of 3.7 million over 2008, is the largest in 51 years, since the government first started tracking poverty data."