Kristin Seefeldt has examined how well safety nets for the poor functioned during the recession. She finds that some worked, while others were overwhelmed by the increase in the the number of long-term unemployed. “About 46 million Americans, according to our latest count, are poor. That means for a family of four, they’re living on less than $23,000 a year,” says Seefeldt. She and John Graham analyze recent trends in poverty and access to safety net programs in a 2013 book, [*America’s Poor and the Great Recession*](http://www.iupress.indiana.edu/product_info.php?products_id=806884).

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