There are 15 million more people living in poverty than in the year 2000. Additionally, America has become a low-wage nation. The median paid job in the country now pays about $35,000 per year for full-time employment. This is barely more than what he paid in 1973. With a salary of $35,000, Americans are living in poverty because this amount of salary is not even enough to live in a one-bedroom house . That might be enough for one person, but for someone who has a family, it's definitely not. In most cases in the United States, many families do not have both parents. Single mothers were and still are struggling, with poverty rates topping 40 percent. That being said, it is single mothers who are affected and who are among the cases who live in poverty. They live in poverty because they are the only ones bringing money into the households and, with their salary of $35,000, it is not enough to support themselves and their children. Family structure plays an important role in poverty. “Poverty among single mothers with children at home, of all races, is the highest among demographic groups, higher than any minority or age group.” says Edelman, Peter. (2014). During the Great Recession, when many single mothers were living on food stamps and quickly destroyed legal rights to benefits.