U. S. "Working poor" versus the "Super Rich"

The amount of people who are working but are still poor is increasing in the United States, according to the Census Bureau. In 2009, 10.4 million people living in the U.S. were considered "working poor," up 1.5 million from 2008.

One working person living alone and making just over $10,000 per year is considered poor in America. This could include making around $370 a week if a single person has spent 27 weeks working or looking for work.

A family of eight making at or below $37,010 is considered poor, and a family of three making at or below $18,310 is considered poor.

Here are some other characteristics of the "working poor":

* majority work part-time
* Black and Hispanic workers are twice as likely to be poor than Whites and Asians.
* Female heads of households were more likely to be "working poor" than male heads of households.

This is in comparison to the Forbes list of the nation's 400 richest Americans who all make over $1 billion each and are considered the "super wealthy." The top twenty billionaire list includes only one female, 91 year old Anne Cox Chambers. African American Oprah Winfrey is number 130 on the billionaire list.

Forbes calculates wealth by including "a price on all assets, including stakes in public and privately held companies, real estate, art, yachts and planes."

For more information, go to: http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpswp2009.pdf and http://www.forbes.com/wealth/forbes-400.