US poverty set to reach highest level in 50 years

The ranks of America’s poor are on track to climb to levels unseen in nearly half a century — erasing gains from the war on poverty in the 1960s amid a weak economy and fraying government safety net.

Census figures for 2011 will be released in the critical weeks ahead of the November elections.

The Associated Press surveyed more than a dozen economists, think tanks and academics both nonpartisan and those with known liberal or conservative leanings, and found a broad consensus: The official poverty rate will rise from 15.1% in 2010, climbing as high as 15.7%.