The OCED stands for organization for economic co-operation and development and compares a list of basically modernized, industrial countries. When compared, the USA has a rate of poverty only outmatched by Mexico and Turkey. Ouch.
Relative income poverty is measured here by the poverty rate and the poverty gap. The poverty rate is the ratio of the number of people who fall below the poverty line and the total population; the poverty line is here taken as half the median household income. However, two countries with the same poverty rates may differ in terms of the income-level of the poor.
What isn't even mentioned in the article is the United States outdated calculation of the poverty rate, which doesn't factor in such costs here as transportation and healthcare and relies mostly on overcompensated food costs. While many of the European countries have adequate welfare services listed, the USA's are mediocre at best.
Worst of it, the rate is growing. This is a nation-wide phenomenon that needs to be addressed on a wide-scale.
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