Bloomberg: U.S. Poverty Climbed to 17-Year High in 2010

Neither wealth redistribution or trickle down seem to be working.

The U.S. poverty rate rose to the highest level in almost two decades and household income fell in 2010, underscoring the lingering impact of the worst economic slump in seven decades.

Data released by the Census Bureau today showed the proportion of people living in poverty climbed to 15.1 percent last year from 14.3 percent in 2009 and median household income declined 2.3 percent. The 46.2 million Americans living in poverty was the highest since the Census Bureau began counting the number 52 years ago. Those figures may have worsened in recent months as the economy weakened.

“Families are struggling to put food on the table, and they don’t have the purchasing power to help the economy recover,” said Isabel Sawhill, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

Stagnating incomes and rising poverty will be at the heart of the 2012 presidential campaign that’s focusing on joblessness, and will give added urgency to debates in Washington and statehouses across the U.S. over budget cuts to programs designed to protect families from hardship. [[Bloomberg]