Chaun Frost ran up her credit cards in when the US economy was booming, and now the single mother is paying a heavy price.

To service her debt and buy food for her two children, she has taken a second job selling pizza on weekends and some week nights, supplementing the €1,657 a month she earns from her job coordinating volunteers at a children's hospital.

"We have been hurt by the current state that the economy is in," said Ms Frost, 32. "I am part of the new working poor."

About 37.3 million Americans were living in poverty in 2007, or about 12.5 per cent of the population, according to the government, which defines poverty as an annual income of €16,203 or less for a family of four.

Figures due out in August will show that rose by about half a percentage point last year, analysts estimate, and more and more people like Frost will slip into poverty this year as the recession takes hold.

In many ways, Ms Frost is typical of the many middle class people in the current recession who are falling into poverty.

Many of the decisions she made seemed smart at the time. Some of her many debts were accumulated as student loans. She also makes monthly payments for a big car whose value is now less than the amount she owes on it.

Repayments on the car and insurance bills are almost as much as the €640 rent for the modestly furnished two-bedroom apartment she shares with her 11-year-old son and a nine-year-old daughter in Washington.