One of six American live in poverty, a new report finds, leading to the implication that the US poverty level is even worse than first believed. The National Academy of Science (NAS) formula calculates the poverty rate to be at 15.8 percent, or nearly 1 in 6 Americans, according to new estimates released this week. [...]

Nearly 40 million people in the US have lived below the bread line last year as the recession snuffed out jobs and dragged down incomes. Last year’s poverty rate of 13.2 percent was the highest since 1997, and its rise to over 12.5 percent in 2007 was the first significant bump in four years, said [...]