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.
blog post Federal Funds and California’s Budget By Patrick Murphy Apr 9, 2018 The most vulnerable Californians could bear the brunt if changes are made to direct funding received from the federal government.
blog post Examining the Reach of Universal School Meals in California By Caroline Danielson Aug 15, 2024 In the 2022–23 school year, California became the first state to provide free school meals to all children regardless of income. We look at how the state's school nutrition programs are faring overall and examine trends in participation among low-income students.
blog post Video: Learning from CalFresh Pandemic Boosts By Stephanie Barton Sep 17, 2024 PPIC researcher Tess Thorman discusses a new report that explores how increased CalFresh food assistance benefits affected eligible households during the pandemic—and what this experience means for addressing economic downturns in the future.
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.
