About what percentage of the u. s. and canadian population lives in poverty?

The overall poverty rate for all persons using the 50 percent poverty threshold varies from 5.4 percent in Finland to 20.2 percent in Mexico. The poverty rate is 17.0 percent in the United States, the second highest of all nations and the highest of all rich nations. The average rate of poverty is 12 percent in Canada (Burtless and Smeeding, 5).