WASHINGTON - The percentage of poor Americans living in severe poverty has reached a 32-year high, with millions of working Americans falling closer to the poverty line and the gulf between the "haves" and "have-nots" continuing to widen.

A McClatchy Newspapers analysis of the 2005 census figures, the latest available, found that nearly 16 million Americans are living in deep or severe poverty. A family of four with two children and an annual income of less than $9,903 -- half the federal poverty line -- was considered severely poor in 2005. So were individuals who made less than $5,080 a year.

The McClatchy analysis found that severely poor Americans increased by 26 percent from 2000 to 2005. That's 56 percent faster than the overall poverty population grew in the same period. McClatchy's review also found statistically significant increases in the percentage of the population in severe poverty in 65 of 215 large U.S. counties, and similar increases in 28 states.

The review showed that North Carolina had 523,511 people in severe poverty.

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