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
Los Angeles Times, October 20, 2011: Billions spent in U.S. on community college students who drop out
"California expenditures on such students over five years totaled $480 million, report says. Many students are ill-prepared for college, get too little support and aren't helped by remediation, the study notes."
Los Angeles Times, October 18, 2011: A pitch for higher education
"The students are overwhelmingly low-income Latinos, many of them children of immigrants who did not finish high school and work in blue-collar jobs. But several said those hardships have motivated them to aim for academic success."
Argus Leader, October 13, 2011: Poverty touches more S.F. students
"The state's largest school district has added 515 students since this time last year, but the number of students from low-income families is growing even faster."
Sacramento Business Journal, October 7, 2011: UC Davis gets $4M grant for poverty research center
"The University of California Davis will create a Center for Poverty Research, one of three in the country that will study the causes and effects of policies that deal with poverty."
Contra Costa Times, September 29, 2011: As black families leave Oakland, their kids disappear from school
"The public school system lost about 12,500 black students in that decade -- roughly half, according to figures from the California Department of Education. The exodus is reflected in the latest census count, which showed black residents leaving Oakland and other urban areas of California in great numbers."
The San Diego Union-Tribune, September 27, 2011: SDSU center shares lessons of success from urban schools
"The award program gives us the opportunity to identify and study these schools that are getting very impressive outcomes,' said Johnson, 'even though they are urban, even though they are serving low-income communities.'"