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.
Report Geography of Child Poverty in California By Caroline Danielson, Sarah Bohn Feb 22, 2017 One-quarter of young children across the state live in poverty. In inland regions, reducing child poverty requires efforts to improve job opportunities. In many coastal regions, increasing access to affordable housing will help.
Fact Sheet California’s Nutrition Safety Net By Tess Thorman, Patricia Malagon Apr 24, 2024 Millions of Californians participate in more than 15 programs designed to help them access nutritious food; these programs also reduce poverty. CalFresh, the largest nutrition program, provides low-income families with monthly food-buying resources. Other large programs serve pregnant Californians, young children, and K–12 students.
blog post Geographic Variation in Poverty across California By Tess Thorman Aug 14, 2018 Poverty in California varies dramatically by region. PPIC's new interactive maps show these disparities across counties and US congressional, state senate, and state assembly districts.
blog post Measuring Child Poverty By David Lesher Oct 3, 2014 At a well-attended briefing in Sacramento this week, PPIC research fellow Sarah Bohn described the findings in a newly released report, Child Poverty and the Social Safety Net in California.
blog post 1 in 4 Child Care Workers in California Lives in Poverty By Tess Thorman, Caroline Danielson, Sarah Bohn Oct 16, 2018 While demand for preschools and child care is high in California, the state's child care workers—particularly women of color—are poorly paid and almost twice as likely to live in poverty than workers overall.
blog post Video: Poverty and Opportunity in California By Steven Bliss Oct 25, 2019 At an event in Sacramento, researcher Tess Thorman and an expert panel discuss the latest poverty figures and how public policy and community-based services can reduce economic hardship and broaden opportunity.
blog post Nearly Half of the Working Poor Are Working Full Time and Year Round By Caroline Danielson, Sarah Bohn Jul 25, 2018 Many poor Californians are employed full time—the number of hours worked does matter, but poverty is also driven by factors such as the cost of living and the level of access to safety net resources.
interactive Geography of Child Poverty in California Feb 15, 2017 This interactive map highlights local variation in poverty among young children age 0–5 across California. It also shows demographic traits and family resources, as well as factors that can affect poverty, such as parents’ education and employment, cost of living, and the social safety net.
