Living in poverty in America today.

No statistician, social scientist or tarot card reader is needed to attest that the gap between the rich and poor in America is increasing. Further, most Americans don't care that much about it. There are also more rich people today living in the U.S. and there are more people living in poverty. Between 2000 and 2002, the number of Americans living in poverty increased by nearly 3 million to 34.6 million. Of these, 12% (or about one half a million persons) are living extreme poverty and many are children, with 16.7% likely to be poor (National Association of Social Workers, 2003).