OLD AND POOR

Across America, about one in nine senior citizens are at risk of hunger because of factors that include poverty and limited mobility.

"They're the hidden hungry," says Enid Borden, president and CEO of the Meals On Wheels of America.

James P. Ziliak, director of the Center for Poverty Research at the University of Kentucky and co-author of the Meals On Wheels study, says the rate of senior hunger has been climbing nationally over the past decade, with as many as 5 million elderly facing hunger. The most recent Meals On Wheels study on the issue, conducted in 2009, showed Mississippi had the highest rate of residents 60 to 90 at risk of hunger at 12.3%. South Carolina ranked No. 2 at 9.8%.

An AARP Public Policy Institute analysis of data released last fall showed that between 2006 and 2008, the percentage of poor and near-poor elderly who were hungry more than doubled, from 4.7% to 10.1%

Some 43.6 million Americans live in poverty. That is the record high for the 51 years the U.S. has recorded poverty data. The number of Americans in poverty jumped 9.5 percent in 2009 alone (the most recent year for which we have data). Overall, 14.3 percent of Americans live in poverty.

The Rich:
– The richest 20 percent of Americans get 50.3 percent of the country's income.
– The portion of wealth for the rich has consistently gone up: In 1999, that figure was 49.4 percent. In 1989, it was 46.2 percent. In 1979, 44.2 percent.
The Poor:
– The poorest 20 percent of Americans get 3.4 percent of the country's income.
– The portion of wealth for the poor has consistently declined: In 1999, the number was 3.6 percent. In 1989, it was 3.8 percent. In 1979, 4.1 percent.

America's income inequality is higher than any period since the 1930s. According to Gini Coefficient, a gauge to measure income inequality, the U.S. has more unequal income distribution today than countries like Ivory Coast, Pakistan and Ethiopia. The richest 1 percent of Americans receives nearly 25 percent of income, up from 10 percent in 1975. The top CEOs of America's largest Fortune 500 companies made 45 times as much as their workers in 1980; they make more than 550 times as much today What's more, four-fifths of total income increase in America went to the richest Americans from 1980-2010.