Brookings Institution: Poverty is rising in D.C. suburbs - Washington Business Journal:: Two recessions over the last decade have elevated the number of people living in poverty, with nearly half of the increase occurring in the suburbs of the nation’s biggest metropolitan areas, according to a report released Wednesday by the Brookings Institution.
The number of poor grew by 25 percent in suburbs from 2000 to 2008, almost five times the growth rate in primary cities, said the report. By 2008, there were 2.5 million more suburban poor than in 2000. By 2008, 13.2 percent of Americans lived below the poverty line. A $21,834 annual income for a family of four is considered the poverty level.
