Washington, DC, USA. The Great Recession and the currently tepid economic recovery swelled the ranks of American households confronting hunger and food insecurity by 30 percent. In 2010 48.8 million Americans lived in food insecure households, meaning they were hungry or faced food insecurity at some point during the year.

That's 12 million more people than faced hunger in 2007, before the recession, and represents 16.1 percent of the U.S. population.

Washington, DC, USA. The recession officially ended more than two years ago. But the percentage of people living in poverty — with household incomes below $22,350 for a family of four — has continued to rise.

Data released Thursday (September 22) by the U.S. Census Bureau show that 20 states saw a 20 percent or higher increase in the poverty rate from 2007, just before the Great Recession began, to 2010. At the same time, family incomes dropped. In 16 states, median incomes fell more than 7 percent.

Washington, DC, USA. Student loan defaults are rising fast, according to figures released this week by the U.S. Department of Education. The recession has led to more student defaults and a higher unemployment rate for people in their 20s than the national average.

While much of the press coverage focused on defaults by students attending for-profit schools, defaults at state colleges and universities went up, too.

Sacramento, CA, USA. A six-month old policy in California allows auto insurers to base premiums on the number of miles customers drive, rather than on who owns the car or on rough estimates of how the car is used.

Insurance officials say it is a sign of a growing national movement toward rethinking the way that carriers set their rates. California drivers who keep their cars in the garage will now be able to get discounts on auto insurance.

Jackson, MS, DC, USA. The abortion battles that flared up in statehouses nationwide in 2011 will extend to the ballot box in Mississippi this November.

There, Mississippi voters will pick up where state lawmakers left off this year as they consider a ballot measure that would essentially outlaw abortion. Mississippi is among just a handful of states to hold elections this year, and among the items on its ballot will be one that defines “person” to include every human being from the moment of fertilization.