Working-age adults make up record share of US poor

WASHINGTON — Working-age America is the new face of poverty. Census figures show the new working-age poor represent nearly 3 out of 5 poor people, the highest share on record. They include adults 18-64 who were laid off in the recent recession as well as single twenty-somethings still looking for jobs.

It's a shift from the early 1970s when children made up the main impoverished group. Demographers say the now-weakened economy and limited government safety net for workers are playing a factor.

When new census figures for 2010 are released next week, analysts expect a continued increase in the overall poverty rate due to persistently high unemployment last year.

Currently, the U.S. poverty rate stands at 14.3 percent, or 43.6 million people.