[thebottom30-blog]

"In no state was the gap between the official poverty rate and the supplemental poverty rate wider than in California. Between 2011 and 2013, an average of 16% of residents earned incomes below the poverty line, one of the higher rates in the nation. Once taxes, cost of living, and non-cash income were taken into account, the poverty rate rose to 23.4%, the highest supplemental poverty rate nationwide."

[thebottom30-blog]

POVERTY: Trends alarm Southern California economists

News: POVERTY: Trends in Southern California alarming, economists say | poverty, percent, california, school, husing, percentage, orange, high, counties, southern

[thebottom30-blog]

Fighting Poverty Needs to be a National Policy Priority

A new Hamilton Project blog post provides an overview of the poverty crisis facing America, and the implications of poverty for America’s economic and social well-being. Editors Melissa S. Kearney and Benjamin H. Harris also preview the forthcoming volume, Policies to Address Poverty in America, in which 14 policy proposals confront specific challenges of poverty.

[thebottom30-blog]

In this first installment of a KPCC series, we look at new research that shows the mere act of being poor can affect the brain, making it hard for kids to learn. But the changes are reversible.

[thebottom30-blog]

Poverty Simulation for The School of Social Work at Cal State University San Bernardino.

[thebottom30-blog]

Hardship Makes a New Home in the Suburbs

The suburbs east of Los Angeles were once a magnet for restless newcomers with big aspirations, but jobs never really followed. Today, poverty is growing faster in suburban areas than in cities or rural areas.

[thebottom30-blog]

Struggling To Get Out Of Poverty: The 'Two Generation' Approach

To help low-income families, some think high-quality early education is key; others argue it's support for parents with job training and education. A program called Career Advance is doing both.

[thebottom30-blog]

Food for Thought - Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Benefits Will Be Reduced

Beginning this month, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits will be reduced for more than 47 million lower-income people.  The average SNAP recipient receives about $133 a month in benefits, while the typical family gets $278. Benefits are means-tested, meaning that poorer households receive larger benefits. The cuts will leave participants in the program, better known as food stamps, with an average of $1.40 to spend on each meal. The amount people get could sink even lower if Congress makes more cuts later this year when House and Senate lawmakers try to hammer out a farm bill. (CBS Money Watch)

[thebottom30-blog]

Catholic Charities hosts Poverty Simulation in partnership with the University of Redlands and the Family Service Association of Redlands

On October 10th, 2013, Catholic Charities hosted a Poverty Simulation in partnership with the University of Redlands and the Family Service Association of Redlands. The event was held at the University of Redlands, Orton Center from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm. This free, half-day workshop provided participants with a new perspective on the challenges that low-income families often face.

  A “Poverty Simulation” is a unique tool that helps educate the community, from policy makers to local business owners, about the realities of living a life with a shortage of money and an abundance of stress. 

 During the simulation, participants role-played the lives of low-income family members, from single parents trying to care for their children to senior citizens on Social Security trying to maintain their self-sufficiency. The task for each participant was to find a way to eat, locate or maintain shelter, and secure other basic necessities.

Although it used "play" money, fictional scenarios, and time limits, the Poverty Simulation is not just a game. Instead, it reflects many of the struggles that low-income families encounter. Participants, like these families, had to overcome financial and emotional challenges while facing insurmountable barriers with inadequate community support and limited personal resources.  

[thebottom30-blog]

PE Article - CENSUS: New estimates show Inland incomes falling

TERRY PIERSON/ THE PRESS ENTERPRISE STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Front page on today's (September 19, 2013) The Press Enterprise.

  CENSUS: New estimates show Inland incomes falling

"While incomes in California and the nation stabilized in 2012 after several years of decline, they continued to drop in the Inland area, new U.S. Census Bureau estimates show.

Nearly one in five Inland residents now live in poverty, the highest rate of any of the nation’s 25 largest metropolitan areas, the data reveals.

The statistics reflect a region still battered by an economic downturn that put hundreds of thousands of Inland residents out of work and threw many families out of their homes.

“They’re saying we’re out of a recession,” said Belinda Marquez, Riverside County director for community and emergency services for Catholic Charities. “Come answer my phones today and tell me we’re out of a recession.”

The organization receives about 450 calls a day in Riverside County from people seeking food, clothing or help in paying utility bills, rents or mortgages, she said. And those are only the people who can get through the often jammed phone lines.

The median household income in Riverside and San Bernardino counties fell from $59,547 a year in 2008 – adjusted for inflation – to $53,201 in 2011 to $51,695 in 2012, the Census Bureau estimates. The median is the midpoint.

The Inland Empire had the biggest drop in median incomes of all the 25 biggest metro areas."

Read more...

[thebottom30-blog]

Poverty Levels Stay Steady in 2012

The San Bernardino County Sun posted an interesting article this morning on poverty levels in 2012... " In what economists see as a positive trend, national median household income and poverty levels held steady in 2012 for the first time in five years, but the country’s economy still has far to go to reach pre-recession levels, according to new census data released Tuesday. Inflation-adjusted median income in 2012 for family households ($64,053) and nonfamily households ($30,880) were not statistically different from 2011 levels, according to the newly released Census Bureau report entitled “Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2012.” Either one or the other had gotten worse in each of the previous five years. “We’ve seen two years in a row that poverty has not changed, one year in which income hasn’t changed, but we still haven’t seen rises in income or declines in poverty,” said Chuck Nelson, the U.S. Census Bureau’s assistant division chief for economic characteristics. “The economy hasn’t strengthened enough obviously to show rising income or falling poverty, which obviously would be the more positive economic news.” Nelson said he believes the leveling off is largely due to some movement on the job front. From 2011 to 2012, the number of year-round full-time workers rose by 1.4 million, while the number of total workers rose 2.7 million. " Read more...

[thebottom30-blog]

A Shift Toward Suburban Poverty

(Don Bartletti, Los Angeles Times) This may not come as news for those of us living in the suburban sprawl east of Los Angeles, but suburban poverty is on the rise. Researchers Elizabeth Kneebone and Alan Berube published a book this week called Confronting Suburban Poverty in America that examines this trend. The following synopsis and infographic can be found on the Brookings Institution website, where the book is also for sale: In Confronting Suburban Poverty in America, Elizabeth Kneebone and Alan Berube take on the new reality of metropolitan poverty and opportunity in America. For decades, suburbs added poor residents at a faster pace than cities, so that suburbia is now home to more poor residents than central cities, composing over a third of the nation’s total poor population. Unfortunately, the antipoverty infrastructure built over the past several decades does not fit this rapidly changing geography. The solution no longer fits the problem. Kneebone and Berube explain the source and impact of these important developments; moreover, they present innovative ideas on addressing them.

The Los Angeles Times picked up this story, and their article focuses on the fact that there are now more "poor" people living in the the suburbs than in large cities. Hopefully this shift will help policy makers see poverty as a more universal issue. Hopefully.

[thebottom30-blog]

A Bottom 30 Film Selection: The House I Live In

The "war on drugs" has had a profound impact on low-income communities throughout the United States. The House I Live In is an award-winning documentary that examines this important issue. Watch it now! For more information, check out the film's website.

[thebottom30-blog]

Americans Need a Raise Pt. III: Food Service and Retail Workers Strike in Chicago

Today in Chicago, workers from McDonald's, Subway, Dunkin' Donuts, Macy's, Sears, Victoria's Secret, and Nordstrom Rack are striking for a living wage. Many of these workers make $8.25 per hour, which is the state's minimum wage. In the video above, "office worker" John Brady expresses a sentiment that has certainly become cliche in these situations... "I think its rather bold for them to complain, when so many other people out there, who would love to just have their jobs, let alone have a job and complain about it." He thinks these workers should be thankful that they have a job in the first place. While poorly stated, this is true to a certain extant, and I'm sure that these workers ARE thankful for their employment. But shouldn't they also be able to SURVIVE on what they are paid for their work? I wonder if Mr. Brady could survive on $8.25 per hour? Full story here.

[thebottom30-blog]

Americans Need a Raise Pt. II: Fast-food Workers Strike in New York

Mary Altaffer/AP by way of NPR Fast-food companies sure are lovely. They sell us food that makes us sick. Their advertisements annoy us when we're paying attention and entice us when we're not. And the corn-syrup-soaked cherry on top is the fact that they do not pay their employees well. Today, fast-food workers in New York took action to call for a "living wage"... "Fast-food restaurants were a little bit slower Thursday in New York City. Hundreds of workers staged a one-day strike in what organizers are calling the biggest job action ever in that industry. It's a growing segment of the economy, but workers complain that fast-food jobs don't pay enough to survive in New York City."  Click here to read (or listen to) the rest of the story. Fast food workers here in the Inland Counties should follow suit.

[thebottom30-blog]

Americans Need a Raise

The Center for National Policy posted a very interesting article discussing our outdated federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour! Here's an excerpt... "With an existing minimum wage of just $7.25 an hour, it has become increasingly difficult for the ordinary American to afford the cost of living. Americans are working longer hours, for less money, as inflation and the cost of living continues to rise. If minimum wage had kept up to pace with the inflation rate, minimum wage would be $10.52. Additionally, while minimum wage has stayed the same, the pay rate for a CEO has risen 725 percent over the past 30 years. These figures are alarming and it is evident that a change needs to be made." Please click here to read the rest of the article.

[thebottom30-blog]

Wealth and Inequality in America

This short video demonstrates wealth inequality in a very clear and powerful way. Take a look.