Census Bureau data released yesterday show that poverty in California remains high. Our brief report on the new Census data shows that the share of all Californians with incomes below the federal poverty line in 2013 remained significantly higher than in 2006, the year before the Great Recession began. More than 5.6 million Californians — over one in seven — had incomes below the poverty line in 2013.
What’s more, nearly 2 million California children were living in poverty in 2013. Although the state’s child poverty rate — 20.3 percent — is down significantly from that in 2011 (24.3 percent), children still account for a disproportionate share of Californians living in poverty.
This CBP infographic (below) highlights the new top-level poverty data from the Census and shows why state policies that boost workers’ earnings can play a major role in reducing poverty and fostering greater economic opportunity across our state. A full-size (PDF) of this infographic is available here.
— Steven Bliss
California Budget Bites 