Bush faces pressure as US poverty rate continues to rise

NEARLY 35 million people lived in poverty in the US in 2002 and incomes slipped for the second year in a row, the US government said yesterday, in a report sure to provide new ammunition for Democrats trying to unseat US President George W Bush.

The Census Bureau’s annual report showed the number of people living below the poverty line rose by 1.7 million last year, from 32.9 million in 2001, when the national economy first went into recession.

A family of four with two children was considered to be living in poverty in 2002 if its total income was $18,244 or less.