According to the AP, U.S. poverty levels are spiking during a time when the government is cutting funding (due to the sequester) for programs aimed to help the poor, like Head Start, which "provides educational services for low-income pre-school children and frees single mothers to find work without the huge expense of childcare."

This paper by researchers from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Johns Hopkins University is worth looking at—especially during an election year when there's a question about how effective President Obama has been on reducing poverty.