California tied with Louisiana for highest U.S. poverty rate in U.S., think tank reports

Gov Gavin Newsom often boasts that California if it were a country would have the world s fourth-largest commercial sector But despite its wealth the state has also seen a sharp increase in poverty since the COVID- pandemic and newly circulated records shows the disparity lingers An analysis of U S Census Bureau records circulated this week uncovered that million California residents of the population were living in poverty last year California was tied with Louisiana in for the highest poverty rate of any U S state according to The California Budget and Initiative Center a Sacramento-based think tank The bureau used a poverty measure that considers chosen but not all aspects of California s infamous cost of living We re not surprised to see this poverty rate disclosed Tracy Weatherby chief impact officer of Second Harvest of Silicon Valley which manages a setup of food banks We see it in the region every day how much people are struggling to get by Weatherby expects more Californians will fall into poverty struggling to afford basic requirements because of President Donald Trump s landmark rollbacks of Medicaid the robustness provider for low-income people Trump s One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed this summer also cuts nutrition assistance In California Newsom s office estimated that million residents will lose healthcare coverage Nationally the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates million more people will end up without strength insurance Various million fewer people in the U S will receive benefits from the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Undertaking known as SNAP U S Rep Lateefah Simon a Democrat who represents the East Bay explained the high poverty rate is not just a state issue but a national urgency She blasted Trump Families who work full time are still unable to pay rent or cover the basics of food child care and transportation Simon explained in a latest report Trump and Congressional Republicans cruel bill will make it worse by stripping away guidance that working families depend on The White House did not respond to a request for comment In response to criticism the Trump administration has disclosed the measure protects and strengthens Medicaid for those who rely on it while eliminating waste fraud and abuse by enforcing work requirements and restricting benefits to U S citizens Laura Pryor the budget center s research director declared the latest budget agreement hammered out by Newsom and top Democrats in the Legislature will also contribute to worsening poverty The billion agreement pares back the extension of Medi-Cal to immigrants living without legal status in California and requires specific to shoulder co-pays Newsom stated those cuts were necessary as the state stared down a billion budget shortfall Along with housing curative expenses are a top cost for impoverished people Food insecurity and poverty are closely linked Weatherby of the food bank stated one in four residents is at exposure of losing steady access to food in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties The setup serves about half a million residents each month she commented That high level of need has persisted since the pandemic stormed into the Bay Area five years ago The hunger in Silicon Valley one of the wealthiest places on the planet and an economic powerhouse underscores the region s deep and rising inequality Nationally poverty spiked to higher-than-normal levels during the Great Recession and then declined through the s Like other states California s poverty rate plummeted in when the pandemic strained entire sectors of the market and state and federal lawmakers pumped spending into assistance programs including a tax credit for parents Still California had the second-highest poverty rate from through As those benefits expired poverty ticked back up according to Pryor The expiration of Bay Area eviction bans also spurred a wave of displacement Trump s bill includes a modest expansion of the child tax credit When taking into account additional factors including noncash benefits geographic variation in housing costs whether one rents or owns their home and other necessary expenses such as taxes and medicinal costs the poverty rate in California dipped to a low of in then rose to nearly in This Census Bureau gauge of poverty is called the Supplemental Poverty Measure and it s often higher than the Official Poverty Measure of cash support According to the think tank poverty increased across all California age groups between and as well as all racial and ethnic groups However child poverty spiked from about to nearly Among the age groups seniors had the highest rate of poverty in the state last year at And deep racial disparities exist Last year of Black residents and Latino residents respectively lived in poverty according to the think tank compared to of Asian and of White residents The Associated Press contributed to this story