A Profile of L.A.’s Poor in Turbulent Times

New Brief on Poverty
January 27^th, 2009

A Profile of L.A.'s Poor in Turbulent Times has been published by United Way of Greater Los Angeles.

This policy brief profiles the poor in L.A. County in the precarious balance between making ends meet and avoiding homelessness. Items examined include: people and families in extreme poverty (below half of the federal poverty threshold), public benefits participation (General Relief and Food Stamps), unemployment rates for L.A. County (including comparisons to the state of California), housing costs (growth in fair market rental rates, vs. median wages), increases in foreclosures and more.

Selected Findings:

• Over half a million people in L.A. County live in extreme poverty: Extreme poverty translates to:1 person earning less than $5,200 a year, or a family of four earning less than $10,600 a year (referenced on pg. 1).
• About 1 in 4 renters in L.A. County face extreme rent burden—paying 50% or more of their income on rent (referenced on pg. 4).
• In the first half of the decade (2000 to 2005), L.A. County Fair Market Rental Rates (defined as close to median rents) for 1 and 2 bedroom apartments grew 80 times greater than median wages in the County in the same period (referenced on pg. 3).
• Some areas of L.A. County (including areas in Montebello, Long Beach and Glendale) experienced a 1,000 percent or more increase in foreclosures last year (referenced on pg. 4).

Children's Report Card for California

Children's Report Card for California January 12th, 2009 2009 California Report Card has been published by Children Now This report examines key indicators that are vital to insure a decent quality of life for children in California. These indicators include health (such as mental health, adolescent health, health coverage), education (such as early care, K-12, after school), and integrative services (location and delivery of services, prevention of diseases such as obesity and public safety). The report evaluates the status of these key indicators using a school-report card model (i.e. grades of A, B, C, etc.). Also included are policy developments within the last year of 2008, as well as future policy objectives and priorities for some of the indicators discussed. Selected Findings: Working families in California (with two parent wage earners) need to earn 3 times the poverty level (about $72,300 a year) to afford an adequate quality of life for a child (to include childcare, education, insurance, food, etc.); yet one in two children live in families earning less than $70,000 in California (referenced on pg. 2). One in four children in families under the poverty line is at risk for depression, compared to one out of six children in families earning 3 times or more above the poverty line (referenced on pg. 13). Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death for children (aged 10-18) in California (referenced on pg. 13). More than two-thirds (69%) of students who dropped out of high school in California in 2007 were Latino or African-American (referenced on pg. 25). About 50% of 8th graders in California are enrolled in Algebra (compared to just about 33% in 2003) (referenced on pg. 26).