The number of Americans who live within 125 percent of the federal poverty level is expected to reach an all-time high of 66 million in 2012, the Associated Press reports. A family of four at 125 percent of the poverty level — the threshold for legal aid and other government assistance programs — makes $28,800 a year, according to government data. Faced with stagnant wage growth and high unemployment, the number of Americans near the poverty line has skyrocketed since the Great Recession began in 2008, as the chart from Zero Hedge shows below, contributing to America’s rising levels of income inequality:
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