The US authorities has announced that 14 per cent of Americans are living in poverty, the highest level since 1994.<br /><br />The government defines poverty as a family of four living on less than $22,000 a year. <br /><br />The statistics cover President Barack Obama's first year in office, when the recession left millions of people out of work and unemployment climbed to more than 10 per cent. <br /><br />The report's release comes just weeks before the economy takes centre stage in upcoming US elections.<br /><br />Al Jazeera's Rob Reynolds reports from El Centro, California.
