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| California Poverty Measure | |
|---|---|
| Name | California Poverty Measure |
| Established | 2010 |
| Jurisdiction | California |
| Agency | Public Policy Institute of California; Stanford University; University of California, Davis |
| Type | Alternative poverty measure |
California Poverty Measure
The California Poverty Measure is an alternative statistical measure developed to assess poverty in California using a broader set of resources and expenses than the federal Supplemental Poverty Measure and the Official Poverty Measure (United States). It integrates data and methods from institutions including University of California, Berkeley, Public Policy Institute of California, Stanford University, and the U.S. Census Bureau to provide state-specific estimates for policymakers in Sacramento, analysts in San Francisco, and advocates across Los Angeles, San Diego, and the Central Valley. The measure has informed debates in contexts such as the California State Assembly, California State Senate, and municipal governments in Oakland and San Jose.
The California Poverty Measure adjusts poverty thresholds for variations in regional costs such as housing in Los Angeles County, health care in San Francisco County, and utilities in Fresno County, while counting non-cash benefits like Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Earned Income Tax Credit, and Medicaid eligibility under Medi-Cal. It contrasts with the Official Poverty Measure (United States) by including tax credits administered by the Internal Revenue Service and subtracting unavoidable expenses such as work-related child care and out-of-pocket medical costs tracked by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The measure’s dissemination has involved collaborations with entities like the California Budget & Policy Center, Economic Policy Institute, and academic centers such as Public Policy Institute of California and UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education.
The methodology combines microdata from the American Community Survey and the Current Population Survey with program participation records from agencies like California Department of Social Services and Employment Development Department (California). It sets poverty thresholds using housing cost data from Zillow and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development fair market rents while adjusting for household economies of scale using equivalence scales similar to those applied by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Resource measures incorporate cash income, Earned Income Tax Credit receipts, and in-kind benefits such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and housing subsidies administered through local housing authorities in San Francisco Housing Authority and Los Angeles Housing Department. Expense deductions include work-related childcare, commuting costs derived from Metropolitan Transportation Commission data, and medical out-of-pocket spending informed by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kaiser Family Foundation analyses. Statistical techniques employ microsimulation methods used by University of Michigan researchers and imputation strategies comparable to those in RAND Corporation studies.
Analyses using the measure show divergent trends from national poverty statistics during events such as the Great Recession (2007–2009), the policy responses in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and shifts during the COVID-19 pandemic when programs like Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and expanded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits affected household resources. Findings indicate higher poverty rates in regions affected by housing inflation in Silicon Valley and persistent poverty in agricultural areas of the Central Valley and among populations in Imperial County. Disaggregated reports illustrate disparities by demographic groups including Latino (U.S. Census) families, African Americans, Asian Americans, Native American, and immigrant communities tied to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy changes. Longitudinal comparisons reference research outputs from Brookings Institution, Urban Institute, and National Bureau of Economic Research that align with trends found by California-focused teams.
Policymakers in the California State Assembly and executive agencies have used the measure to design interventions affecting programs like CalFresh, CalWORKs, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and Medi-Cal eligibility thresholds. Local governments in San Jose, Long Beach, and Sacramento have applied findings to affordable housing initiatives and transit-oriented development planning tied to Metropolitan Transportation Commission and California Department of Transportation data. Advocacy organizations such as California Budget & Policy Center, Children Now, and California Immigrant Policy Center cite the measure when proposing expansions to tax credits, rent control ordinances in Berkeley and Santa Monica, and workforce development programs linked to California Workforce Development Board strategies. Researchers at Stanford University and University of California, Davis use the measure to evaluate outcomes of policy experiments like CalGrant expansions and local guaranteed income pilots.
Critics from institutions including Heritage Foundation and commentators in publications like Wall Street Journal argue the California-specific thresholds complicate comparability with the Official Poverty Measure (United States). Methodological limitations noted by scholars at Columbia University and Yale University include reliance on imputed program take-up rates, potential measurement error in administrative records from the California Department of Health Care Services, and regional cost adjustments sensitive to volatile housing indices reported by Zillow and Redfin. Concerns have also been raised about undercounting by the U.S. Census Bureau affecting small-population estimates in counties like Sierra County and Alpine County, and about policy misinterpretation in legislative debates in Sacramento.
Implementation combines data from federal sources like the American Community Survey, Internal Revenue Service statistics, and Bureau of Labor Statistics earnings data with state administrative records from California Department of Social Services, Employment Development Department (California), and California Department of Health Care Services. Housing and cost-of-living inputs draw on datasets from U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Zillow Research, and county assessor offices across Los Angeles County and San Diego County. Academic and policy partners such as Public Policy Institute of California, UC Berkeley, Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality, and University of California, Davis provide methodological development, microsimulation coding, and public dissemination at venues including conferences hosted by Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management and seminars at Hoover Institution.
Category:Poverty in California