4 In 5 Americans Will Be Poor At Some Point In Their Lifetime

Economic instability may be becoming the new norm in America.

A whopping 4 of 5 Americans will live on the edge of poverty in their lifetime, dealing with joblessness or living off of public programs for at least a year, according to an exclusive analysis for the Associate Press.

Poverty has been on the rise and the widespread unemployment triggered by the 2008 recession only made matters worse.

Thirty-five to 55-year-old Americans have the highest risk of falling into poverty, arguably the worst time in anyone's lives to fall on hard times. People are starting families, buying homes, and should be reaching the peak of their earning power.

Racial disparities in the poverty rate are becoming more blurred, as an increasing number of whites have joined the ranks of the poor today (40%).

"More than 19 million whites fall below the poverty line of $23,021 for a family of four, accounting for more than 41 percent of the nation's destitute, nearly double the number of poor blacks," the AP reports.

The U.S. as a whole scores even worse when it comes to child poverty rates, ranking second-to-last of 35 countries analyzed. Government spending on child poverty has declined the past three years, removing kids from programs aimed to help them.

Even as the economy is on the mend, the survey predicts that by the year 2030, 85% of adults will have dealt with economic insecurity at some point in their lives.