37.9 million Americans are living in poverty, according to the U.S. Census. But the problem could be far worse.
“As of January 2021, 37.9 million Americans lived in poverty, accounting for 11.6% of the total population, according to the latest report from the United States Census Bureau. That’s despite the fact that America ranks first as the richest nation in the world in terms of GDP. ‘Poverty and economic insecurity are widely common, very commonly experienced,’ said Shailly Gupta Barnes, policy director at the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights, and Social Justice. ‘They are as much a part of the American story as successes to the American dream.'”