California
State Government
Governor
Gavin Newsom (D)
State Senate
32
Democrats,
8
Republicans
State House
62
Democrats,
17
Republicans
Economic well-being - California
Extreme poverty rate
0.1
Food insecurity
0.1
Minimum wage
16.5
Percent of working families under 200% of the poverty line
0.3
Poverty rate
11.8%
Unemployment rate
5.5
Number of Black or African American children living in families where no parent has full-time, year-round employment
Number of Hispanic or Latino children living in families where no parent has full-time, year-round employment
Percent of individuals who are uninsured
5.9
Housing - California
Home foreclosure rate
1 in 3407
People experiencing homelessness
187,084.0
Households paying more than 50% of income on housing
1,633,600.0
Percent renters
0.4
Poverty by demographic - California
Child poverty rate
0.2
Number of Asian and Pacific Islander children below 200% poverty
251000
Number of Black or African American children below 200% poverty
192000
Number of Hispanic or Latino children below 200% poverty
1981000
Senior poverty rate
12.0 %
Women in poverty
19,461,027
Sacramento Bee, February 21, 2012: Tax plans would boost schools but leave social safety net vulnerable
"As education groups battle over which California tax initiative would give the biggest boost to schools, advocates for low-income residents fear safety-net programs remain vulnerable no matter what happens on the ballot in November."
Contra Costa Times, February 18, 2012: (Op-Ed) Keep Cal Grants for students at independent nonprofit colleges
"Those cuts would almost halve the grant amount for more than 26,000 deserving students at nonprofit private colleges across the state, even though such grant awards comprise less than 3 percent of the state's budget. This measure would block access to higher education and sacrifice the aspirations of low-income students for a minimal, if any, improvement to the state's bottom line."
Chico Enterprise-Record, February 18, 2012: (Op-Ed) Money must be found to save higher education
"'California has the "finest system of higher education in the world,' but it's in peril because of budget cuts, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom said... The public must be made to understand the danger, he said, adding people wrongly think the system is managing despite having been cut by $2 billion in the last year. Over a few years, a system of higher education that took a century of investment is being destroyed, he said."
Los Angeles Times, February 14, 2012: Activists press council to ease truancy law
"Public interest lawyers and advocates cited statistics that show the current law unfairly targets Latinos, blacks and low-income students while doing little to curb truancy.And the council members agreed."
The Daily News of Los Angeles, February 4, 2012: Poverty aid goes to Valley schools
"Nearly two dozen LAUSD schools will get an infusion of $2 million to help them cope with the loss next year of federal money used to teach impoverished students, officials said Friday."
South Florida Sun-Sentinel, January 31, 2012: Broward public schools land at top of state rankings
"So for elementary and middle schools, the rankings are based on student performance and improvement on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. For high schools, they are based half on FCAT scores and half on other factors such as high school graduation rates and student success in advanced classes. But these rankings concern some educators, who say it does not take into account how factors such as poverty can impact students' academic performance."