1 out of 7 Americans in poverty

Despite President Barack Obama’s pledge to fight the problem, US poverty is on track to post a record increase for 2009, with the ranks of working-age poor approaching 1960s levels.

Census figures for 2009, to be released in the coming week, are expected to show a significant increase in poverty rates among US citizens to the range of up to 15 percent, AP reported on Saturday.

That means some 45 million in the United States, or more than 1 in 7, were poor last year on Obama’s watch.

Should those figures hold true, the US will see its highest single-year increase in the poverty rate since the government began calculating poverty figures in 1959.

The previous high was in 1980 when the rate jumped 1.3 percentage points to 13 percent during the energy crisis.

Experts say the ranks of the working-age poor are approaching the low levels of the 1960s that led to the national war on poverty.

The rise in poverty is seen as unfortunate timing for Obama and his party just seven weeks before the Congressional elections.

Analysts predict a tough struggle for the Democrats to persuade voters to keep them in power.