Guess which state has the highest poverty rate in the country? Not Mississippi, New Mexico, or West Virginia, but California, where nearly one out of five residents is poor. That’s according to the Census Bureau’s Supplemental Poverty Measure, which factors in the cost of housing, food, utilities and clothing, and which includes noncash government assistance as a form of income.
Given robust job growth and the prosperity generated by several industries, it’s worth asking why California has fallen behind, especially when the state’s per-capita GDP increased approximately twice as much as the U.S. average over the five years ending in 2016 (12.5%, compared with 6.27%).
Click here to listen to a podcast interview with Michele Steeb, CEO of Saint John’s Program for Real Change, one of the organizations profiled in the study.
Click here to listen to a podcast interview with Kerry Jackson, talking about “Good Intentions”.
Nothing contained in this blog is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of the Pacific Research Institute or as an attempt to thwart or aid the passage of any legislation.
Kerry Jackson in LA Times: Why Is Liberal California The Poverty Capital of America?
Kerry Jackson
Guess which state has the highest poverty rate in the country? Not Mississippi, New Mexico, or West Virginia, but California, where nearly one out of five residents is poor. That’s according to the Census Bureau’s Supplemental Poverty Measure, which factors in the cost of housing, food, utilities and clothing, and which includes noncash government assistance as a form of income.
Given robust job growth and the prosperity generated by several industries, it’s worth asking why California has fallen behind, especially when the state’s per-capita GDP increased approximately twice as much as the U.S. average over the five years ending in 2016 (12.5%, compared with 6.27%).
Read more . . .
To learn more, read Kerry Jackson’s new issue brief on poverty in California, “Good Intentions”
Click here to download a copy of the study.
Click here to listen to a podcast interview with Michele Steeb, CEO of Saint John’s Program for Real Change, one of the organizations profiled in the study.
Click here to listen to a podcast interview with Kerry Jackson, talking about “Good Intentions”.
Nothing contained in this blog is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of the Pacific Research Institute or as an attempt to thwart or aid the passage of any legislation.