WASHINGTON, D.C. - Nearly 1.4 million more people in the United States fell into poverty last year - almost half of them children - even as the country emerged from recession, according to a Census Bureau survey.

About 12.4 percent of the population, or nearly 34.8 million people, lived in poverty in 2002, according to the bureau's American Community Survey that was to be released today. That was up from 12.1 percent, or 33.4 million, in 2001.

Roughly 17.2 percent of children, or 12.2 million, lived in poverty in 2002, up from 16.4 percent, or about 11.5 million, in 2001.

Poverty declined among people 65 and older, from 10.2 percent to 9.6 percent. Older Americans have become more immune to economic downturns because of Social Security, one analyst noted.

Median household income rose by $51, when accounting for inflation, to $43,057 after a similarly slight drop the previous year, when the nation was in recession from March to November. Median income refers to the point at which half of households earn more and half earn less.

Robert Greenstein, executive director of the liberal-leaning Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, blamed the increase in poverty on rising unemployment and the government's failure to promote more child tax credits for low-income families and stronger unemployment insurance.

"People at the bottom tend to live paycheck to paycheck," Greenstein said.

The poverty threshold differs by the size and makeup of a household. For instance, a person under 65 living alone in 2002 was considered in poverty if income was $9,359 or less; for a household of three including one child, it was $14,480.

Robert Rector of the conservative think tank, the Heritage Foundation, said welfare reform helped keep more single mothers in the labor force than in previous economic downturns, and therefore, out of poverty.

"So now coming out of the recession, in terms of child poverty, it's a very optimistic picture," Rector said. "In terms of the population overall, it looks like an ordinary recession."