Are Federal Poverty Estimates Valid For California?
Press Release
California's poverty rate soars from 15th to 3rd in the nation when regional cost of living---omitted from federal calculations---is factored in and the most current poverty data are used, according to a study released today by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC).
With the adjustment, only Washington, D.C. and New York have higher poverty rates.
"Conditions particular to California, such as very high housing costs, rising income inequality, and the largest immigrant population in the country, have made poverty a larger social phenomenon here," says author and PPIC program director Deborah Reed.
The federal poverty threshold determines eligibility for several federal programs, including the Food Stamp Program, the State Children's Health Insurance Program, and Head Start.
When these programs do not adjust for regional cost of living, they inadvertently provide very different levels of service to families facing different costs.
Between 1969 and 2004, income declined four percent for low-income families, rose 16 percent for families at the median, and rose 41 percent for high-income families.
In the rest of the U.S., there has been at least some income growth across the board," says Reed.
Racial and ethnic disparities: Poverty rates among Latinos and African-Americans are roughly double those for U.S.-born whites (about 20% to 9%).
