About 41 million United States citizens were receiving food stamps as of July 2010 — that's more than an eighth of the population. This marks an all-time high, following 20 consecutive months of record-breaking enrollment. Enrollment in the U.S. food stamp program increased by more than 50 percent between the end of 2007 and the middle of 2010.
Other statistics on poverty:
- The bottom fifth of U.S. earners earned less than four percent of all income earned in 2009. The top fifth received almost 50 percent. This is less of a difference than it is globally — the richest 1 percent of the people in the world own a little less than half of the total global assets. The richest 10 percent own about 85 percent of the total global assets.
- More than 20 percent of children in the U.S. live below the federal poverty line. More than 40 million Americans live in poverty. Even those in the lowest income bracket in U.S., however, earn more than two-thirds of the world's population. More than 80 percent of the world's population lives on less than $1 US Dollar per day.
- Wall Street bonuses have gone up almost 20 percent since 2009. Additionally, U.S. banks own more of the residential housing net worth than all U.S. households combined.