The U.S. Census Bureau has just announced that the poverty rate for 2008 was 13.2%.  This means the number of people in poverty has increased by about 2.5 million, to 39.8 million.  To give you some perspective, 2.5 million is more than the number of people who live in Detroit and San Francisco combined.

To highlight the importance of this data and raise awareness of poverty in the United States, we are coordinating a campaign on Twitter.com to get as many people and organizations as possible to “tweet” about the new national poverty numbers.

Looking for additional resources on poverty and data? Click here or scroll further down.

Want to help us spread the word on Twitter about the release of the poverty data?  Send a tweet that includes the #PDD09 hashtag – it’s that easy!  Make sure you include the #PDD hashtag so your tweet will be displayed in the TweetGrid below.  If it is one of our favorites, we’ll add it to this page permanently.   Can’t think of something to tweet?  Copy and paste any of the sample tweets below:

• 2008 poverty data data has just been released!  Learn more at http://su.pr/2je5FS #PDD09
  
• Want to participate in our campaign to raise awareness about poverty today? Use the #PDD09 hashtag: http://su.pr/2je5FS (Pls RT)
  
• Listen to and read Pam Fessler's excellent piece on the poverty measure from this AM: http://su.pr/5rQPBy #pdd09
  
• The number of Americans in poverty has jumped 2.5 million to 39.8 million.  Learn more and spread the word:  http://su.pr/2je5FS #PDD09
  
• Number of Americans in poverty increased more than pop. of Detroit and San Fran. combined last year (2.5 million) #pdd09