Donate
PPIC Logo Independent, objective, nonpartisan research

Search Results

Filters Sort by:
Report

Geography of Child Poverty in California

By Caroline Danielson, Sarah Bohn

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

Poverty in California

By Sarah Bohn, Caroline Danielson, Sara Kimberlin, Patricia Malagon

With the end of many pandemic relief programs, poverty rates—especially for children—have gone up in the last two years.

Report

Child Poverty and the Social Safety Net in California

By Caroline Danielson, Sarah Bohn

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

Reducing Child Poverty in California: A Look at Housing Costs, Wages, and the Safety Net

By Sarah Bohn, Caroline Danielson

Nearly a quarter of young children in California live in poverty—a fact that has profound educational, health, and economic repercussions now and in the long term. High housing costs and low wages are key barriers to reducing the prevalence of child poverty. Lawmakers have taken action to address these issues: the minimum wage is slated to increase to $15 an hour by 2022, and recently enacted laws aim to ease the state’s housing crisis.

Report

The Impact of Expanding Public Preschool on Child Poverty in California

By Caroline Danielson, Tess Thorman

High-quality preschool has many benefits, such as promoting early skill development in young children and supporting work among parents. More investments in public preschool could also help reduce child poverty by subsidizing an important family expense.

interactive

Reducing Child Poverty in California

This interactive tool allows you to explore how changes to housing costs, minimum wage, and the social safety net could affect child poverty statewide and in your county.

blog post

How the Expanded Child Tax Credit Reduces Child Poverty

By Tess Thorman, Patricia Malagon

The recently enacted federal COVID-19 relief package includes a one-year expansion of the Child Tax Credit. This could cut child poverty in California by about one-third, with the estimated effect varying across regions.

interactive

Geography of Child Poverty in California

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.

Search results are limited to 100 items. Please use the Refine Results tool if you are not finding what you are looking for.