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.
Explainer Is College Worth It? By Marisol Cuellar Mejia, Cesar Alesi Perez, Vicki Hsieh, Hans Johnson Mar 8, 2023 Rising college costs and a reluctance to take on debt lead many students and families to wonder if college will actually yield a brighter future with higher earnings and better jobs. In this explainer, we explore whether the benefits of a college degree outweigh the costs.
Fact Sheet California’s Cash-Based Safety Net By Caroline Danielson May 20, 2024 Cash assistance helps keep low-income Californians out of poverty. Tax credits help those with low—and sometimes no—incomes, while several programs provide monthly assistance to children and other targeted populations.
Report Expensive Children in Poor Families: The Intersection of Childhood Disabilities and Welfare By Marcia K. Meyers, Henry E. Brady, Eva Y. Seto Oct 1, 2000 Although disabilities affect children of all income groups, poor children are far more likely to suffer from them. In this study, Marcia K. Meyers, Henry E. Brady, and Eva Y. Seto provide important new estimates of the private costs and public effects of childhood disabilities among welfare recipients. Based on over 2,000 interviews with household heads in Los Angeles, Alameda, San Joaquin, and San Bernardino Counties, their estimates cover direct expenditures by families and indirect costs due to employment reductions. They also examine participation rates in public assistance programs and estimate the likelihood that families with disabled children will exit these programs to independence. They conclude that public assistance may be an essential part of an income-packaging strategy for many of these families.
blog post Expansions to Food Assistance Could Reduce Child Poverty By Caroline Danielson, Tess Thorman Oct 1, 2021 Long-term commitments to expand CalFresh and school meals, two of California’s largest food assistance programs, could lift an estimated 90,000 children out of poverty.
Report Federal Formula Grants: Federal Transit Assistance Programs By Tim Ransdell, Shervin Boloorian Sep 27, 2004 The nation’s last major surface transportation law, enacted in 1998, was the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century or TEA-21. The law expired on September 30, 2003, without Congress having reauthorized it, but temporary extension bills have kept TEA-21’s provisions operational. Under TEA-21, California has received more federal transit funding than any other state through the two major types of federal transit assistance—“formula grants” and “capital investment grants.” This report describes the data sources and formula programs used to determine the share each state receives in formula transit funds. It then discusses capital investment grants and loans, which support projects too large in scale to be sustained consistently by formula apportionments alone. Finally, it examines in detail the various proposals from the White House, the Senate, and the House for reauthorizing TEA-21.
Fact Sheet Poverty in California By Sarah Bohn, Caroline Danielson, Sara Kimberlin, Patricia Malagon Oct 18, 2023 With the end of many pandemic relief programs, poverty rates—especially for children—have gone up in the last two years.
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 Federal Formula Grants: TANF and Welfare Programs By Tim Ransdell, Shervin Boloorian Dec 15, 2002 This report reviews the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, pending reauthorization issues, and a number of formula-related aspects of federal welfare laws, with a specific focus on California outcomes.
