Report Sanctions and Time Limits in California’s Welfare Program By Deborah Reed, Caroline Danielson Apr 6, 2009 In an effort to boost the share of adults on welfare who work, the state has considered proposals to further reduce or eliminate payments to those receiving aid through CalWORKs—the state's welfare program for needy families—who don't work or seek work. This report examines possible effects of these stricter sanctions. The findings suggest that in general, the state's work participation rate could rise, the welfare caseload could shrink, and the poverty rate among children would not be greatly affected if stricter sanctions were adopted.
blog post The Coronavirus Pandemic Will Test the State’s Budget Reserves By Radhika Mehlotra, Jennifer Paluch Apr 20, 2020 State reserve policies enacted since the Great Recession have boosted the capacity of California’s budget to weather a downturn, but a major recession due to COVID-19 would pose significant fiscal challenges.
Report The Rise and Fall of California’s Welfare Caseload: Types and Regions, 1980-1999 By Thomas E. MaCurdy, Margaret O’Brien-Strain, David C. Mancuso Jun 1, 2000 In the years following welfare reform, caseloads have declined considerably both in California and in the rest of the nation. Nationally, welfare participation has fallen 47 percent from its 1994 peak, yielding the lowest recipiency rate since 1970. However, participation has fallen by only 30 percent in California, placing it eighth from the bottom among U.S. states. This smaller decline results primarily from California's much higher participation rates before 1994. In this volume, the authors focus on four key factors (the economy, immigration, demographics, and welfare reform) and their influence over time on the three types of welfare cases: one-parent, two-parent, and child-only. The authors also identify important issues for consideration in the state's evolving welfare policies, including the ongoing economic challenges facing rural areas, the side effects of CalWORKs sanctions, and the effects of undocumented immigration.
blog post California’s High Housing Costs Increase Poverty By Patricia Malagon, Caroline Danielson Aug 13, 2021 Many families across the state struggle to afford housing, and periods of rising home prices—such as the pandemic recession—can pose a particularly large challenge.
Report Child Poverty and the Social Safety Net in California By Caroline Danielson, Sarah Bohn Sep 29, 2014 Because economic hardship is associated with a host of adverse outcomes, particularly for children, policies that can give children a better start in life are especially important. This report focuses on measuring material hardship among children across the state. Using the California Poverty Measure—which accounts for both family earnings and safety net resources and adjusts for work expenses and housing costs—we find that one-quarter of California’s children are in poverty. An additional 26 percent of children live in households that are "near poor,” or somewhat above what is often referred to as the poverty line. In short, about half of California’s children are poor or near-poor. Poverty rates, earnings, and the role of safety net resources all vary by region. But most poor children live in "working poor” families, with one or more working adults. And, without resources from the social safety net—which includes the federal Earned Income Tax Credit, CalFresh (California’s food stamp program), CalWORKs (California’s welfare program), and housing subsidies—there would be far more children in poverty throughout California.
blog post Testimony: Safety Net Plays Key Role in Reducing Poverty By Sarah Bohn Feb 14, 2018 Poverty is high in California, and it has not improved as much as the economy has.
