Poverty is on the rise across America, in cities and even suburbs, and is expected to hit levels not seen since the 1960s, according to a survey of think tanks, academics and economists conducted by the Associated Press.
The rate in 2010 was 15.1 percent of Americans, and the estimate from the survey is that it will reach as high as 15.7 for 2011, the most recent year of data collection. Even if it rises to 15.2 percent, it will be the highest level since 1965, when President Lyndon Johnson launched the War on Poverty. The low mark for poverty was 11.1 percent, in 1973.
