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The Impact of Health Insurance on Poverty in California

By Caroline Danielson, Patricia Malagon, Shannon McConville

The Affordable Care Act has helped millions of Californians gain health insurance over the past decade. In addition to improving access to care, the ACA has increased financial well-being. This analysis focuses on the significant contribution of publicly funded health coverage—particularly Medi-Cal—to family resources across the state.

Report

Reform Reversed? The Restoration of Welfare Benefits to Immigrants in California

By Thomas E. MaCurdy, Margaret O’Brien-Strain

The 1996 federal welfare reform legislation called for many substantial changes in the welfare system.  However, some of these changes were not carefully considered, and subsequent legislation has already modified or reversed several of the original reforms.  In this report, the authors examine one such instance—the denial and reinstatement of benefits to noncitizen immigrants under the federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Food Stamps programs.  The authors argue that the lack of thoughtful program design was the most disturbing feature in both the denial and restoration of benefits to immigrants.  If legislators are to accomplish the stated goals of welfare reform, they must develop their strategies more carefully as other opportunities for rethinking and revising the welfare system arise in the future.

blog post

Is California the Poorest State?

By Caroline Danielson, Sarah Bohn

One poverty measure ranked California as the poorest state in the U.S. But according to the latest official estimates, 16 states had higher poverty rates. How do we make sense of this?

Fact Sheet

Census-Related Funding in California

By Patrick Murphy, Caroline Danielson

The census plays a role in determining federal funding levels for a broad range of state programs. An accurate count in 2020 can help California provide services to populations in need.

Statewide Survey

PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians and Their Economic Well-Being

By Mark Baldassare, Dean Bonner, Lauren Mora, Deja Thomas

Key findings include: A record-high 71 percent of Californians believe that children growing up in the state today will be worse off financially than their parents. Three in ten workers fear losing their jobs to new technology like artificial intelligence. A majority say that California will have bad economic times in the next 12 months; about half approve of how Governor Newsom is handling jobs and the economy.

blog post

Testimony: Measuring Poverty

By Sarah Bohn

New and more comprehensive measures update a definition of poverty that is now more than 50 years old.

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