The United States Census is a survey through which government bodies take an account of the number of people in a household as well as other important information to help generate demographic information for the United Sates government. Required by Article I of the US Constitution, the first U.S. Census was conducted in 1790 and supervised by Thomas Jefferson. It took place in 1790 to determine the number of seats each state would have in the House of Representatives.

According to the results of the 2010 census, poverty rates in the United States are at a record high, with the income and class gap widening at an exponential rate since 2009. “The income gap between the richest and poorest Americans grew last year to its widest amount on record as young adults and children in particular struggled to stay afloat in the recession, ” CNS News reported.

It is, 20 percent of Americans (those making $100, 000 each year) received 49.4 percent of all income generated in the U.S., compared to the 3.4 percent earned by those below the poverty line. About 43.6 million now live in poverty, which is a record for the United States.